Camping Campaigns
by TheOwlMoth
Summary: George Washington decides to take his scout troop on a fun, innocent camping trip, but things go horribly wrong when the scouts go missing one by one. The remainder of the group must rescue the others and survive. Aged-down modern AU based on the popular Roblox game Camping.
1. Chapter 1 - Into the Woods

**I actually began to write this back when the bizarre trend involving camping adventure games on Roblox started back in spring of 2019. To be honest, that game was really cool and had a story and a monster that kept you on your toes. There were countless games inspired by Camping that rarely showed the same amount of quality, but many people played them, nevertheless. **

**Alright-y, here's my fourth and hopefully final publication for today. Because I have nothing better to do. **

**Chapter One—Into the Woods**

It was a sunny Friday at 4:00 PM, and Mr. George Washington was scrambling to find the picnic basket that which held the food for his scout group. His scout group, ranging from ages ten to twelve, curiously waited behind him, eagerly ready to ride the truck that would take them to their camping site.

Washington was preparing his scouts to camp. He had packed four tents, a medical aid kit, bandages, bug spray, fishing poles, flashlights for each person, a s'mores making kit, and the picnic basket, but he couldn't find it. He had also packed a rifle for defense against murderous beasts (but he didn't tell any of the campers). Washington was a stern man in his forties, bald, and often acted more like a war general than the leader of a group of scouts, though he was very fatherly and sensitive towards children, hence he chose to take these acquainted children on a nice camping trip.

"Has anyone seen the picnic basket?" Washington interrogated, peeking under the hayride-style vehicle they were to ride all the way to the woods to camp.

"Pegs, give it to him," Washington heard one of the girls on the vehicle whisper.

"Shh! He'll hear you—"

"I'm afraid I already have," Washington laughed, snatching the picnic basket from Peggy, a dark skinned girl in a bright yellow dress. "Thank you, Peggy. If your sneaky antics should stop, we would be on our way to the woods already."

Peggy giggled to herself. She was somewhat of a happy-go-lucky joker, always ready to make others laugh and put others at their misfortunes for her own entertainment. Her main prank victims were her sisters.

Unlike her youngest sister, Angelica, who was also dark skinned, but had a light pink dress, was very serious. She was a girl of her word, and was the ring leader of the Schuyler sisters. As sassy as she was, she was always there to defend her sisters, especially Peggy, who was the butt of some other jokes the scouts made.

Eliza, the last Schuyler sister, was very different from her sisters. She was pale and had very dark brown hair, with a kind-hearted innocence about her that made the other scouts fall under her spell. Her two sisters found her somewhat gullible, though, because she was always becoming infatuated with random boys she met, and not to mention her very trusting nature.

"Mr. Washington, we have to go now! We're going to miss our camping trip, and it will get dark before we even get to set the tents up!" The boy shouting intense demands was Alexander Hamilton, the preteen who was closest to Washington. He was incredibly clever, outgoing, with his dark hair tied back half the time. His friends frequently advised him to slow down or set down his pencil every once in a while; luckily, the camping trip was the perfect way for him to take a break from writing time-consuming essays for school.

Alexander had three friends: John Laurens, Lafayette, and Hercules Mulligan. John, like Peggy, was the subject of a lot of jokes, since everyone assumed he had an infatuation with Alexander. Time and time again he tried to suppress the jokes, only for the others to sarcastically agree with him. What made him bubble with rage was that he confessed that he internally gushed over one of the female scouts in the group, and that he only saw Alexander as a close friend. He never named his crush.

Lafayette was referred to as Lancelot at times, which was a title that very well suited him. He absolutely was not afraid to take risks and wrestle with his friends, who assumed he had originated from France. The French scout had asked Mr. Washington to bring his father's Samurai blade on the camping trip, but unfortunately, Washington discarded, much to Lafayette's chagrin.

The last close friend of Alexander's was Hercules. Hercules was the "tough on the outside, sensitive on the inside" kind of person. He was not as talkative as the other three boys were, but had not ever been left out of any group activities.

After Mr. Washington placed the picnic basket atop the vehicle with the other camping necessities, he paced in front of his scouts. "Alright, time to review some rules," he said sharply, and the campers went silent. They saw Washington as someone to never be reckoned with, and to be revered with great respect. "Real camping is a very dangerous thing. At all times, stay within the designated camping area. Do not touch any poison ivy. As we all know, 'leaves of three, beware of me'. Don't touch the three-leaved plants. And please, for goodness' sake, do not eat any berries you find in the woods at all, and do not dare each other to consume them. Keep watch of bears, don't touch animals unless I say you can. The use of my binoculars is allowed, and you all have free access to the ten boxes of juice pouches I have bought. Does everyone understand?"

Everyone nodded reverently. Washington smiled, though his smile was usually nothing more than a curl of the lips. He climbed into one of the seats of the hayride vehicle, beckoning the driver to accelerate.

As the vehicle started to move, almost all of the campers started to sing a simple tune they had made up themselves when they were much younger:

We're off to go to the woods

Today, we're going camping,

We're off to go to the woods

Where the bears will be a'trampling...

Washington sighed and lowered his head. The tune was innocent enough, but he had great concerns with the 'bears' portion of it. The way the campers sang it sounded as if they were glad to go and face dangerous bears in the wilderness. Well, they were children, what was the harm?

The only scouts who were not singing were two boys named Aaron Burr and James Madison. They were the quietest among the group. However, what separated them was that James had a friend to go to, and Aaron did not. Aaron knew Alexander and his clique of crude boys, but he was mostly by himself. James, on the other hand, was a faithful follower of his notorious friend Thomas Jefferson, a boy with wild dark hair and elegant clothing choice. His outfits were not practical; he'd packed velvet magenta coats instead of shorts and loose t-shirts like the other boys. Thomas hated Alexander with a burning passion, due to the fact that their beliefs could not be more opposite from each other.

Aaron had no particular close friends, so he decided to have a pleasant chat with another rather quiet girl named Maria Reynolds as soon as the song was done. She had the same dark skin tone as he did, curly brown hair, a devil-red dress and was the only girl everyone seemed to know who wore lipstick. (Well, she was only about ten, so it made sense that not many others her age wore makeup.)

One of the kids not well-received by Washington, or his fellow campers, for that matter, was Charles Lee. He was like that one student who always landed in trouble for starting a racket or being, well, troublesome. Charles was rambunctious and kind of destructive in his reckless actions, but his intentions were good and had a reputation for witty remarks and juicy gossip to share. Aaron Burr and Eliza were the only two who felt sympathy for him.

Each camper had his/her own personality to bring to the table, one of the reasons Washington held them close to his heart. He wanted to see how they'd behave in a camping scenario, how they'd get along by sleeping in the same areas, how they'd cooperate as comrades in a dangerous setting. As much as he hated to admit it, Washington had the same childish excitement his scouts were harnessing inside themselves.

The vehicle had started at a small brick building at the edge of a city (the building where the scouts met once a week) and there was about a two hundred yard long field between the city and a forest of oak and evergreens nearby. That forest wasn't the place where they were camping, as it was not deep enough. The real place they were camping was the forest along the same road as the first, one much more legendary, much more infamous for events that had occurred in the past. But there was a nice clearing in the middle of it to have picnics, so there were ups and downs.

The forest was known as the Albany Woods—or, the more common name—the George Phantom Woods. The more common name came from two things. The first was the rich prince named George that was known to live in a mansion by the woods. And the second was not as widely discussed, for the name had a very dark past behind it. Some people had reportedly seen strange phantom illusions and dark silhouettes appear out of nowhere, especially at night.

Washington, being a very practical man, discarded all of this. He just wanted for his campers to have a fun, safe camping trip without anyone hiding in the tents in fear of horrifying monsters. The average age of the scouts was eleven years, so there was a 50/50 chance that they'd think the legends a load of rubbish, or they'd believe the tales and cower in their tents.

The campers had it all planned out—first things first, they'd all help to set up the campsite, which was planned to last until around 5:30 in the afternoon. After that, Washington had said that they'd get the true experience of camping, taking photos of the wildlife that inhabited the woods and discovering rivers and rare plants. This was intended to go on until the sun went down. Then, the campers would all find dry logs, place them around the fire, and tell scary stories over roasted marshmallows for some sticky s'mores and juice pouches.

Of course, this would all funnel into the hardest part of camping—sleeping in a tent with other people.

All the campers had already divided who was going into which tent. Washington received his own private tent, since he was an adult. Alexander and his three close friends would sleep in one tent, while the other four boys would sleep in another. And of course, the four girls would sleep in the last tent. The three groups each had one leader—Alex, of course, was the leader of his, Thomas of his group, and Angelica of her group.

The ride through the forest was very pleasant and quiet after the song. The only ones having a serious conversation were the Schuyler sisters, but even they were being relatively quiet in their speech. Alexander and Lafayette, the two most "loudmouth" campers, were also having a quiet time together. They occasionally pointed out bits of beautiful scenery to each other, leaning their heads in their palms in astonishment.

Riding through the first set of trees was simple enough. The road just outside that forest was straight and ran through a secluded part of the state, where few trees stood and the grass grew wildly. Soon, the secluded fields transitioned into more and more trees, until the vehicle reached the edge of a forest.

Everyone fell silent.

Even the vehicle slowed down as it neared the forest. The trees were the breed of evergreen, and somehow, that kind of tree set an unsettling feeling upon the campers. But Washington held his head high, and gestured for the driver to proceed.

The vehicle seemed to drag on the dirt path. Nobody spoke. The only sounds running were the sounds of crows and bluebirds performing mating calls. All of the campers were feeling unsettled. Only Mr. Washington seemed to be keeping a straight face through the passage of evergreens.

"Sir," Alexander finally spoke, "I am not feeling too certain about this trip anymore . . . Look at our fellow scouts!"

John was already halfway into Lafayette's lap, James clung onto Thomas, the Schuyler sisters were tightly in each other's arms. Even Maria was leaning on Aaron's shoulder to console herself.

"The Albany Woods are nothing to be afraid of if you're prepared," George Washington said as firmly as a general. "Listen, the forest is nothing terrifying. The closest you'll get to a horror show is the darkness that falls over the night."

The campers' shoulders relaxed a little. To pacify his scouts, Washington took one of the bags of giant marshmallows and gave one to each scout. A few moments later, the dirt road came to an end at a tiny clearing where the trees circled around one area. The vehicle came to a sudden halt, and when it was safe, Washington jumped off first.

"Welcome . . . Welcome, to Albany Woods," he introduced, holding up his hand as if the woods were a place they'd never seen in their lives.

Hesitantly, the children dismounted the vehicle one by one, some clinging to their friends in minor fear. Even though it was not even five o' clock, the woods were already somewhat dark, but other than that, they seemed perfectly normal. Nearby was a pond of fresh water, frogs hopping gleefully through the wood, and there was also a distant wooden shack way outside the clearing. Two stone pillars stood tall about thirty feet away from the shack, and there was also a trite well close to a cave in a wall of stone.

"Listen up, campers," Washington ordered, as the scouts assembled into a line. "If the tents break, we will take shelter in that cave over there." Even though the cave was far away, Washington could still point to where it was and the campers understood. "If we are in trouble, we will create a giant bonfire to be rescued. I hope you were all paying attention in our lesson on how to build a fire on your first days of being part of the scout club." Each child had learned to build a fire at least a week within his or her time of being in the group. "Am I clear?"

"Mr. Washington, we are not stupid. Well, at least, I'm not," Alexander said with no repentance. "You could not be clearer, sir."

"Good, I suppose. Now, it's best we set up the campsite before we do anything, especially before it gets dark."

"Yes, Sir!" Alexander had some filial respect for Washington, almost as if he was his real father. It almost seemed that way most of the time. For now, he lived with a street trader mentor.

Mr. Washington unloaded the camping supplies and organized them into different categories: the tents, the hand-held items, and the food. He reassured the campers that if they ran out of food, he'd head up to the facility located just at an edge of the woods. He kept five hundred dollars in money in a wallet he had, plenty of it to buy enough food for everyone.

"Now, who are my group leaders?"

Alex, Angelica, and Thomas stepped forward. Thomas flashed Alex a nasty glare, and Thomas did as well, before Angelica broke between them and subdued their nonverbal argument.

"I'm going to need you to collect wood for the campfire tonight," Washington said. "Don't forget logs to sit on when we make s'mores tonight. Everyone else, we'll set up the tents."

Washington sent the three group leaders off to collect sticks. His condition was that they needed to be dry and no more than eighteen inches at length, and no more than three inches at width. Understanding the rules perfectly, the three group leaders went off on their own, into the woods, with ropes to bind the sticks together.

As they walked together in silence, the two boys kept a safe distance from Angelica. They knew her to be the scariest girl in the scout club, mostly because she'd tell anyone off if they bothered her sisters or friends. But when they reached a decent distance from the main campsite, Alex beckoned the other two leaders to stop.

"We should split up," he said. "We can find more wood in less amount of time."

Thomas and Angelica, who showed slight signs of fear in their eyes, nodded abruptly.

They went in three different directions; Alex headed toward the wooden shack, Angelica headed in the direction of the trite well, and Thomas went where there were no particularly notable landmarks except for the pond. They were very careful to not spread out too far from the campsite, as it was a high possibility they could get lost.

At least it was day. If it were night, and they had no flashlights, they'd be doomed.

Angelica, though, could have sworn she saw a strange black shadow pop out of the well for a split second and disappear.

It had taken approximately fifteen minutes for the three group leaders to find enough sticks to bundle together. They rushed back to the main campsite, all arriving at the same time, and dumped their findings into an established stone pit for the campfire. There, the fourth tent was being set up by James and Aaron, and the other three were already very stable. John and Eliza were chatting and laughing on a log that was just outside the designated camping area, Peggy was telling jokes to an extremely red Lafayette, and Hercules was randomly butting into John and Eliza's conversation with the exclamation "Hercules Mulligan!" Maria seemed to just be sitting by herself in a lounge chair by her assigned tent, and so was Charles.

"Lafayette?" Peggy blurted, watching Lafayette's attempts to suppress his uncontrollable laughter. "More like Laugh-ayette!"

Lafayette snorted and fell to the ground.

"Excellent work, you three," Washington praised the leaders, patting Alexander's back. "We'll have enough wood to last us a few days at minimum. Now, I have some activities planned, and we do not have much time to do them. The sun will go down in a little while. Attention, scouts!"

The scouts all turned to Washington. Even Lafayette managed to subdue his laughter.

"Listen, now. I've planned for us to catch-and-release minnows with nets and take a short hike today, and we should return to the campsite by the golden hour."

Everyone nodded in understanding. The last food items were organized into a pile by one of the tents, and then, once everyone was situated, they went on their way. (Thomas reluctantly put on a pair of shorts and a T-shirt.)

The group hiked through the woods, each wearing a backpack, all the while observing and taking pictures of wild animals they saw. Squirrels chittered noisily, birds chirped from above the forest canopy. The campers carefully observed the little plants in the undergrowth as to not accidentally come into contact with poison ivy, and Washington warned his scouts of the red, prickly berries sprouting from the ground.

They stopped when they reached a small, ten-foot-wide river near some evergreen trees and deer territory. The campers set down their backpacks and pulled out long fishing poles—at least, about half of them did. The four girls, especially Eliza (who was against hunting but ate meat just fine) were not interested in fishing, and Thomas just sat by the river's bank, staring into the water.

The fishing stop was decently timed, only lasting about thirty minutes. Alexander had gone slightly overboard with his ambition and caught a large catfish that was rolling down the stream. He managed to catch the most and biggest fish of his group.

After fishing, Washington led the campers down on another hike. It was easy enough—aside from the fact that three of the campers, Lafayette, James and Maria, said to have been pinched roughly on the shoulders when no one was there, and anyone behind them simply claimed they knew nothing of trying to harm the person in front in any way. Washington took it as a prank and brushed the odd thing off.

By the time the campers arrived back at their campsite, the sun was already going down. The young children took their spots on the logs, and Washington went to work making the fire. The task was easy enough, as all it required were two sticks and the ability to breathe oxygen.

"So, who will get the s'mores for me?" Washington smiled, leaning back in the chair he'd brought for himself.

Alexander was way ahead of him, as he pulled out two bags of marshmallows, ten packs of graham crackers, and twenty chocolate bars from behind his log. "I've got them, sir!" he said, pleased with himself.

"Very good," Washington said in awe. Alexander had absolutely no hesitation with anything, especially when it came to taking orders from him like a true devoted soldier to a commander.

Every child took turns grabbing two graham cracker squares, one giant marshmallow, and a piece of a chocolate bar, then roasting the marshmallow over the fire. The Schuyler girls warned Lafayette not to just recklessly stab his marshmallow straight into the fire—but Lafayette, being Lafayette, did it anyway, and his marshmallow turned crisp black—not that he was complaining.

"You are missing out on the dèlice of a true roasted marshmallow, mes amies," Lafayette beamed, his French accent shining through as he stuffed his marshmallow between two graham cracker squares.

Peggy and Angelica laughed, as they found Lafayette's French charm quite appealing. Unlike her sisters, Eliza had not seen what made French a more charming culture than the others. In fact, the Spanish seemed rather lovely and beautiful to her, maybe even more so than France.

But she had always just clicked with Alexander. She had no idea what it was, but those two campers seemed to have a spark waiting to become a fully fledged fire. Perhaps it was his will to take risks, or his genius mind, or his overall just handsome personality.

The campers sang special campfire songs. Before Alex's group ate their s'mores, they held them up into the air simultaneously and blurted, "To the Revolution!" It made no sense because there really wasn't a revolution going on, but it didn't have to. Meanwhile, the Schuyler sisters hummed a song they had made up for themselves with Peggy pouting to herself that she was always left with just "and Peggy", even though she had once told off invaders of her home and managed to make them leave. And not to mention that she had once saved an infant from a hospital fire, even though she had broken her wrist.

When the moon and stars had their time to fully shine, everyone went quiet, prepare to hear scary ghost stories. John and James were clutching their closest friends in fear, as Alex and Thomas had been rivaling before they left for the woods over who'd tell the more impressive story. All they really had to do was watch and see how many of the other campers were impressed with or scared of the story.

They had settled on the agreement that Alex would tell the first story.

"So once," he began, standing up and letting the red fire cast an eerie shadow of him onto a tent, "there were twelve campers in a forest. But little did they know, there was a castle with a psychotic prince ruling it. One day, he looked over his marble balcony, thinking that these innocent little scouts would be perfect prey for his army. He decided he loved them and made figurines out of each and every one of them. Creepy, I know . . . Then he sent a fully armed battalion to remind them of his love. DA DA DA!"

Everyone snickered and snorted. "That wasn't scary, that was funny!" Hercules sighed, wiping a tear of laughter.

"Oh, and the WiFi went out and everyone died, the end," Alex finished, suppressing a snicker.

"Well, he was just building the excitement up in you, for I have a much darker tale to bear," Thomas said somewhat darkly, standing up. The fire cast a shadow of him onto the tent behind him.

He cleared his throat. "Camping, as we all know, is a fun activity for flawless fun with friends and family, we all know that and it is not a secret. But scary stories are not just told for nothing. The first scary stories were meant to be warnings, all the while entertaining the other campers. Warnings against the monsters featured in them. But there is one tale that has not been told in over a decade. It's called, the Legend of the Shadow Murderer."

Everyone, even Washington, leaned closer, the anticipation killing them.

"The Shadow Murderer was once a regular man, like you and me. A fine man, at best. But one day he went insane, fled to the woods, and spied on an innocent family of two parents, a boy, and a girl, who were camping there. He would pinch them when they weren't looking, steal supplies they left at the camp, and lurked in the bushes, awaiting their passage. Finally, he murdered every single family member except the little boy, who escaped but died in the forest due to starvation. Then the insane man killed himself, and legend says that he roams here as an evil spirit, in these woods, searching for more people to attack."

John, James, Peggy, and even Aaron were squeezing the nearest person as tight as they could.

Everyone was frozen in place—not completely scared, just frozen. They were utterly shocked at how such a terrifying and dark story could come from Thomas.

Alex stuttered and shook. "I suppose you win the bet," he mumbled, slipping ten dollars out of his pocket and giving them to Thomas.

"Thank you," Thomas smirked, before slowly plopping down on his log next to James and Charles. James latched onto him immediately, Peggy burrowed her forehead into Angelica's side, John fell halfway into Alex's lap and Aaron was trying his best not to look scared.

"I hope you won't act as a scaremonger throughout the whole camping trip," Charles mumbled, tugging on Thomas' shirt.

Washington, somewhat distraught by the story, cleared his throat as a sign to listen. "Anyone else have a scary story?"

Angelica shot up from her log, leaving Peggy to fall over. "Have you wondered how the souls who have resorted to cannibalism are punished?" she began with no pause. "Well, I am now bearing and exposing the tale of the Wendigo . . . The Wendigos are starving evil spirits that roam the forests, seeking human flesh to eat for their insatiable starvation. They are tall, and have deer-like heads, but their eyes are cold and dead, flesh of the lips rotting with blood. The skin around their torsos is pulled so tight that their ribs poke through the rotting flesh.

"Wendigos are the result of human cannibalism, an undesirable form and a demon whose hunger will never be satisfied. He is always hungry, always looking for flesh, and when he does get his flesh, he always wants more. The only way to kill one is to kill the human that is used to be, which remains near its heart. But if the Wendigo cannot find anything to eat, well . . . He dies and rots into a fleshy, bony mess."

All of the campers were taken by surprise. How could Angelica tell such a frightening tale? No one wanted to admit it, but they were all feeling nervous after she finished telling the story.

"That was a . . . Rather interested story," Alex stated, trying not to flinch.

Angelica smiled and relaxed on her log.

"I think it's best that we call it a night," Washington announced.

The children nodded in agreement. They all separated into their tents, an eerie silence settling over the woods.

**This won't be an exact replica of Camping. It will have similar elements, but I will try to make it somewhat original. :-)**


	2. Chapter 2 - Activities

**So I started writing this chapter right after I saw my first positive review for this story, and after I saw a positive review on my only other Hamilton story, which is one that I hold close to my heart. They might just be two small reviews, but they mean a lot more than the average reader may imagine, because I am publishing these works that I am somewhat self-conscious about to total strangers on the Internet that happen to like them. Plus, I rarely ever show my writing to people. Like, REALLY rarely. And the fact that a couple random people had a positive feeling towards my work just means the world to me. A special thank-you note to Countess Eliza, one of my best friends on FanFiction, and also thank you to SunhatLlama16. And yes, this story will be very, very creepy. I have a lot planned.**

**Gosh, I am so overdramatic. Let's get on with the spoopy! **

**Chapter Two—Strangest things **

In the morning, the sun rose in a mildly cloudy sky, baby blue with mild golden hues of dawn. Rays seeped through the trees, splotches of sunlight igniting the forest floor.

Not to anyone's surprise, Alexander was the first one up and pressured everyone else (still in their pajamas) to rise as well, like a greedy child on Christmas morning. Before Washington could even get up and fathom what was happening, the boy had already begun aggressively rubbing two sticks together over the fire pit to start a fire, much to everyone else's chagrin.

"Alex, _please_, slow down. Let loose, let me make the fire," Washington sighed, placing a hand over his aching head.

"Okay, okay, fine," said Alexander, reluctantly dropping the sticks and plopping down on a log with the others. He was on the edge, beside Eliza and Angelica, who were whispering about the day's plan. But when Eliza noticed Alex sitting right beside her, she suppressed a gasp and tapped her index fingers together. Angelica elbowed her with a suggestive smirk, to which she responded with an indignant scowl.

"Why would you wake your fellow troops up before they could even get cha—"

"_I've got the eggs, bacon, and sausage, sir!" _

Washington sighed, watching Alex dart out of his seat and balance over a dozen eggs and packs of breakfast meat in his thin arms. He negligently placed them down beside the fire pit, accidentally cracking an egg shell. "Oops."

"That will be enough from you, young man," Washington chuckled, clapping a hand on the scout's shoulder. "Calm. _Down_."

He shrugged, behaving nonchalant, and zoomed back to his log. James and John were half asleep, Hercules snoring noisily as he slept in the sitting position. Washington allowed Peggy and Charles to assist in cooking breakfast on the frying pan, which filled the air with meaty fumes and pungent steam. Peggy, being the vivacious farceur she was, was given the task of serving each person a breakfast of their choice without piling too much food on paper plates. In her task, she spouted lighthearted quips and cheeky chuckles that the scouts found amusing.

"Alright, troops," began Washington, keeping a close eye on Alex to ensure he had his rear end on a log. "We have a lot planned for today. First, if someone does not use all the leftover sticks in the woods for this lesson—" He shot Alex a concerned look— "We will learn to build a fire. And it looks simple, but there is more to it than just rubbing sticks together. Then we will spend a few hours going on a scavenger hunt for different animal species. Now, don't chase, scare, or touch any animals you see, unless it is a mosquito or another parasite you catch near you. After the scavenger hunt, we will eat lunch. I have also made arrangements for us to learn archery in a course in the middle of the woods. Then it is free time at the campsite to watch the sunset and socialize." He scanned over the troops, whose expressions were blank. "Does everyone understand?"

They all nodded emotionlessly, before Lafayette raised his hand. "I am in an archery club at school, monsieur," he said proudly, grinning widely.

"Well, that certainly is wonderful. Now, if all of you would change into wilderness-appropriate clothes, we can begin the lesson."

It was intended for the scouts to change in their tents, but Maria complained that she wanted to change somewhere private, so she was given permission to duck behind a tree and slip into her clothes. They all emerged with T-shirts and beige hiking shorts, girls having tied their hair up. After restraining Alexander from sprinting at the sticks like a wild animal to begin the lesson early, Washington finally got all of them to settle down on logs.

"There is, indeed, much more to building a fire than rubbing two sticks together," he explained, pacing in front of the fire pit. "First, you need materials. Of course, you must find a dry, straight stick, and dry flat wood as a fire board. You must then find dry, fine tinder, often what birds use to create their nests. Kindling is also very crucial, for the fire must have something to burn. I recommend birch bark or chips." He was distracted by the sound of Hercules shoveling chips into his mouth from a bag. "And, last, you must have a bunch of dry sticks."

Washington went through the complicated process of demonstrating how to build a fire and keeping Alex's group sitting still and paying attention. He snatched the chips from Hercules and used them as kindling, then grabbed ahold of two sticks. "Of course, rubbing the sticks together is an important step, and the fire will be transferred to the kindling to burn. Luckily, there are enough chips to last us a little while." Washington placed one stick against the other, and moved them in a manner that resembled him strumming a violin. A small spark glowed from inside the pit, drawing the scouts to it, and ignited with a small orange flame. "And there we go. A simple fire."

The scouts chorused oohs and ahhs, watching the fire expand like a rebirthing phoenix.

"Simple enough, eh?"

"I'm ready to go scavenger hunting, sir!" Alexander blurted, seizing a small backpack from beside his tent and swinging it over his shoulders.

"Alex," snapped Washington, blowing on the fire. "We'll leave the fire as is. If one of you feels you are prepared enough, you may make tonight's fire." Before Alexander could volunteer, he said, "Excluding Alex."

Alexander let out a defeated sigh and hunched his back.

"Now, leaders, grab your groups' supplies and let's go on a scavenger hunt!"

The scouts all unleashed enthusiastic cheers, and they amassed into one tight group behind Washington, as the leaders checked that they had appropriate supplies. "Flashlights are necessary to see through the dark bushes," Alex mumbled, stuffing flashlights into his bag.

"Caprisuns . . . Crackers . . . Gummies . . . We have it all," Angelica announced to her group. Thomas made no attempt to check if he had everything, since he said he'd already packed everything his group needed into one backpack beforehand.

Washington led them all onto a dirt trail through the thick woods, leaves crunching under their shuffling feet. Squirrels chittered and scrambled up trees, terrified of the loud children stomping all over the path. Hercules, Maria and Charles each had checklists of things they intended to find on the scavenger hunt.

"Red squirrel," Maria murmured, checking off _Red Squirrel _with a black pen.

"Red spotted deer," Hercules gasped, watching a beautiful young fawn prance across the trail. He checked _Red Spotted Deer _off the list.

"A barn owl," said Charles, closely observing a sleeping owl in a tree hollow, and checking off _Barn Owl. _

Overall, the scouts found it rather fun to point out and observe the animals of the woods. Some of the animals were creatures they'd never seen up close, like salmon in the nearest freshwater river and a brown bear snoozing in a cave. With their watchful eyes and hungry, ambitious natures, Alex's group won, roaring in triumph and frightening a few crows into the air. Washington somehow managed to settle them before Lafayette could moon Thomas's group.

"How _crude_," muttered Angelica, watching Lafayette fix his belt back to his waist.

"Ahem," Washington cleared his throat, placing his arms behind his back like a strict dame. "We will now begin our journey to the archery course. I realize some of you may not know how to shoot an arrow, let alone place it on the bow correctly, but I will be there to help you. Are we ready?"

"_Wait_!" blurted James suddenly, shoving his way between Thomas and Aaron. "Where is Charles?"

The scouts urgently searched the area, being as thorough as possible, but nobody had found him. He had just . . . Vanished, it seemed. James and Peggy expressed great concern; Angelica and Eliza clung to each other; Alex's group went completely frenetic, and Thomas and Aaron simply watched the chaos unravel, thinking that Charles, being the troublesome little boy he was, simply ran off somewhere.

"Scouts! Calm _down_," Washington barked, and the children all froze like statues. "Charles is . . . Not the best at following directions and staying on track, but we will find him. We'll have to delay the archery activity until we find him."

The troops all exchanged anxious looks, before nodding at their leader and following him through the woods. As it turned out, the scavenger hunt had lasted longer than they thought. Their feet ached in their shoes and developed red blisters, their stomachs yearning for lunch. They even dared to go off the trail to find Charles, despite the chance that they could have gotten lost in the thick, dense forest. The sky's bright, baby blue vibrance dwindled into gold and red hues, then to purple star-speckled dusk.

"We . . . Haven't found him," Washington sighed, solemnly staring at his flashlight. "Everyone, listen very, very carefully. I'll lead you back to the campsite. Make sure all of your flashlights are on. But when we get there, get into your tents immediately, and I will go search for Charles in the woods—"

"But Mr. Washington, it's too dangerous!" Eliza exclaimed, a deep tone of concern tainting her voice.

"I know. But I'd rather myself be put in peril than any of you. Follow me. I know these woods like the back of my hand."

Sure enough, Washington did lead them back to the campsite, just when the last sliver of orange sun had descended below the looming tree silhouettes. Night was beginning to take over. Washington built the fire before anyone could volunteer, since he seemed quite adept in his craft.

"Keep your flashlights within reach," he ordered, stern. "Do _not_ leave the campsite, not even if you hear a scream. Yes, _especially_ you, Alex."

Alexander scowled indignantly.

"Stay put. If you're hungry, there are s'mores and other snacks in my bags." He took a blue shoulder bag which contained his secret rifle, and left the campsite without another word. The girls whispered worriedly, and instantly ducked inside their tents, while the boys shuffled inside disorderly.

"What are we gonna do? We searched the whole woods!" John gasped, shoving marshmallows into his mouth and paling.

"I don't know. We can't leave, either," said Hercules, hugging his thick, bulbous knees.

Alexander sighed. He was used to being Washington's right hand boy . . . His friend, his best assistant. But he couldn't come to help rescue one of his peers, even if that peer was not popular, or on his good side 100% of the time. The boy sighed, like an upset child, and leaned over to sleep.

But everyone could have sworn they heard muffled sobs through their silent tents.

**Sorry this chapter was much shorter. I was just so excited to publish it! Especially since I am new and eager to dedicate some of my works to FanFiction and my few friends on this site. Also, the reason chapter 1 is so long is because I dedicated most of it to exposition. Now, I may be slower to update sometimes because of school, longer chapters, development, and because I want to take my time on suspenseful chapters so it is worth the wait. Anyway, I hope you enjoyed this installment of Camping Campaigns. :-)**


	3. Chapter 3 - The Thing

**Heyyyy. . . . Sorry it's taken me awhile to update. School started back the day before I posted the second chapter, and I've been working on other projects for writing, including a future novel I may write about a somewhat dystopian society of birds. I also tend to procrastinate on a lot of things, which was the case here. I kinda lost the motivation to keep writing this chapter midway through, but I am back at it again. **

**Also, something terrible happened where I live. A huge storm hit and a tornado passed through my town and almost hit my friend's house, too. I would have published this hours ago if the power hadn't gone out for sixteen hours. **

**It's become a very prevalent idea in this story that Washington and Alexander have a close bond, almost like father and son. So I kind of want to focus on this aspect throughout the future chapters. There is also a recurring joke that shows Alex's dedication to Washington and that focuses on their relationship, where Alex randomly jumps ahead and does everything in his power to impress his scout leader. Quite frankly, I'm glad people enjoy their dynamic like I do. It's a very endearing one. **

**Prepare yourselves... **

**Chapter Three—The Thing **

In the morning, the children had woken from a horribly uncomfortable sleep. The night was hard with them being extremely disturbed by the thought of having no scout leader near them, and especially no way of contacting him. Alex was the most concerned of all the scouts, since he'd been quite close to Washington himself.

And it was all because that _twit_ Charles couldn't follow a bright light if he was in a dark room.

Alex had woken up at the crack of dawn, and peered out of his tent. Much to his relief, Washington sat on the nearest log by an empty fire pit, leaning over like a sad old man by a memorial gravestone. That's strange, he thought. Something told Alex it wasn't because of severe exhaustion like it normally was, but rather, a lingering feeling of failure, or despair.

"Umm. Mr. Washington? Sir?"

The scout leader sharply turned. His eyes looked dreary and dry, skin bags underneath as dark as night, as if he had been horribly bruised on his search for Charles. He seemed almost solemn, something quite unfamiliar to Alex. Alex recognized Washington's face in himself, the face of a child who'd stayed up all night to complete an essay for a strict shrew of a teacher.

"I couldn't find Charles," said Washington, rising from the log. "I . . . searched and searched all night, my flashlight on. But he was never found." He staggered over to Alex, placing a hand on his bony shoulder. "Listen, Alexander. I know Charles was definitely not the most obedient of scouts, and he caused some form of inconvenience for the other scouts sometimes, and that you are not so fond of him. But, like you, he is a human being. A living, breathing child, even more naïve and eager than you are. He's one of our youngest group members, so you know better than him. This may set our schedule behind, but during our hikes, we will search for Charles. Search to the best of your ability. Even if you don't appreciate his presence, he still holds value as a child. A human, equal to you. Do you understand, Alexander?"

Alex found it odd that Washington just gave him an entire lecture on why Charles, of all people, was important and why they needed to find him, but he nodded anyway. "Yes, sir."

"Good." Washington removed his hand from Alex's shoulder and turned. "I'm very exhausted. Would you mind cooking breakfast? There should be a frying pan and pancake batter in my bag."

"Yes, sir. I learned how to make pancakes when I was seven," quipped Alex, dashing to the huge bag beside Washington's tent and emerging with cooking supplies. Like a trained machine, he threw the pan over the fire with support beams, and dunked pancake batter onto it, a metal spatula ready. He also tossed bacon to the pan and cracked a dozen eggs, flipping back and forth between the three courses efficiently. Washington observed him from his log, impressed and intrigued. Even he couldn't make food so quickly.

The sweet scent of warm, fluffy pancakes, steamy bacon, and burning eggs awoke the rest of the scouts, and they filed out of their tents one by one, like ants attracted to food left out in a house. They gathered around the fire, Alex's quick pancake flipping giving them a show. He tossed them high into the air, and somehow, each pancake nearly landed back on the pan.

"Scouts," Washington started, his hands elegantly placed behind his back, "I'm afraid that I have not found Charles. I searched the woods all night, but I could not find him. But—"

The group cut Washington off with a mixture of concerned whispers, perplexed expressions, and apathetic mutters. "Now, now, everyone, calm down. I won't postpone anymore activities. We'll do what I have planned, but keep an eye out for Charles. There is a chance he is alive, but lost." Washington paused for a brief moment, his head tilted down slightly, but he resumed talking. "Today's activity is mostly wildlife interaction. I've brought binoculars for bird watching, and we will also search for rare plants and rocks. Also, I hope you brought your swimming suits; we are going swimming in the nearby pond!"

Everyone let out excited gasps, their smiles returning to their faces. The thought of Charles being gone vanished all of a sudden.

After putting bathing suits on underneath their clothes, the scouts all followed Washington through the woods, as they sought peculiar plants and rocks that seemed out of place. While the others struggled, Lafayette managed to find at least three rocks with strange lusters within ten minutes. Angelica discovered a beautiful, lush purple flower with curled petals behind a barren shrub; John found a long, elegant brown feather in the dirt at the bottom of a looming tree (Washington said it likely belonged to an owl), and Aaron found the weirdest of all: an ink black stone, shiny as gold.

"What is this, Mr. Washington?" he asked, approaching the scout leader and presenting the stone.

Washington put his fingers to his chin in thought, squinting suspiciously at the object. "I . . . I don't know, Aaron," he said, shrugging. "It could be jet, but jet cannot be found in this location, or above ground. Where did you find this?"

"In a berry bush, sir."

"Did you _eat _the berries?" Washington interrogated.

"What?" Aaron frowned. "Heck no."

"Well . . . It may be a jet. I'm not sure. Keep it just in case. It looks valuable."

Aaron shrugged and tucked the stone in his pants pocket.

Some of the scouts had strayed away a decent distance from the group. James and Mariah shyly teamed up with each other to go search for whatever they could come across, even though they were in different groups. (Thomas and Angelica had broken into a skirmish about which of their groups would find the most items, only for Hercules to blurt his name between them to turn their attention to cocky Alex.)

Alex glared for a moment, then began to oscillate between different spots on the grass with his index finger wielded. "You haven't looked over here, or over here or over here . . . And, _aha_! I've already found seven pieces of silver."

Angelica and Thomas stood beside each other like statues, eyebrows furrowed at Alex. "What the actual—"

"I know, I know, no need for your adulations." He took a plastic baggie out of his back pocket and dropped the silver pieces inside. "Quite easy, really."

"Wait . . . um," Angelica murmured, noticeably disturbed. She opened her mouth to speak, but no words came, and she was just standing with her hand slightly raised. "You know what, never mind. I can't even question Alex anymore." She strode towards him in a defeated manner. "I'm just going to embrace his reckless absurdity."

"That's right, you do that, Ang."

Both Thomas and Angelica rolled their eyes, and the three group leaders headed back to find the scout group.

James and Mariah were quite silent on their walk. They both expressed confusion and concern as they strolled beneath the canopy of green leaves, where squirrels and birds chittered and chirped and congregated. There wasn't any disturbance or noise aside from the quiet crunches of walking upon soil. They mostly uttered monosyllabic words to each other in their time alone, until Mariah finally asked out of the blue, "Do you know what exactly we're even looking for?"

"I suppose it's just . . . Anything interesting," James answered. "But what if we stray too far from the others . . ."

"I'm sure we'll be fine if we can hear Alex's group yelling like overjoyed kids on Christmas."

On cue, Hercules' name echoed throughout the woods, causing a mass of birds to disperse into the sky in loud caws. Mariah clutched herself and tucked a strand of hair behind her ear.

"Alright, then. I still don't know . . . Wait a second." James looked around, and something glimmered under his feet. "Look. How convenient. Here."

He crouched down to the ground, Mariah following, and uncovered something with his hand. A hole filled with shiny black stones lay in the ground, having been concealed by dirt.

"Wow . . . These are most _definitely _interesting." He scooped the stones up in his little arms, holding them like a sensitive child. "We can split these." He counted the stones with his finger, determining that there were seven of them, then gave four to Mariah. "You can take more."

"Ah, thank you," said Mariah, helping herself to four of stones.

"This should be more than enough . . . One of our groups will probably win, Mariah." They both grinned at each other, happy that a group besides Alex's would have a chance at winning a challenge at last. After a moment, they started to walk back in the direction of which they came, like there was some light in going that way.

"Um . . . James, are you cold?" Mariah said, halting on the path.

"A little." They both tightened their arms uncomfortably. Suddenly, a shriek of agony was unleashed from Mariah, and she dropped the stones, falling to her weak knees.

"Mariah? What's going . . . _Ah, ahh_!" James collapsed beside Mariah, a searing pain like dry ice being pressed to fresh wounds surging across their arms. They writhed and hissed and screeched and squeezed their arms to stop the pain, but to no avail. James's sleeve started to burn off, burnt holes edged by ash expanding like inflating balloons. Mariah felt like her arm was being sliced open and exposed to air below freezing, with icy mist flurrying specifically to her limbs.

"_What's happening_!"

"_I don't know_!"

They both began to feel sick to their stomachs, just as the black stones all started to wriggle in the grass.

"James . . . the _stones . . ." _Mariah and James gaped at the stones, which were wobbling and squirming like eggs about to hatch. The two scouts stared in horror, the stones all moving toward each other.

"They're . . . _combining_?"

Slowly, the stones melted into each other to form a single ink-black mass as big as a housecat, and the mass was morphing into . . . _something. _All James and Mariah could focus on were the two flashing white eyes the thing was beginning to develop. The eyes were pupilless and large, glowing, and struck the scouts with a deadly stare.

"_What is that thing_!" they both screeched, clinging to each other for dear life.

The creature was expanding in size until it towered over the children, and all they could see was blackness.

"And . . . Alex's team wins the hunt!"

The Revolutionary Set of seventh graders let out growls and uproars of jubilation and triumph, as if they'd just won the biggest sports game. The other two groups and their leaders startled in the noise, as the girls began to ask if they were "all okay."

"I still don't know how you managed to find silver, Alex," Washington said, mouth flattening.

"Eh. It's just what I do, sir. Happy to be of service."

"Your group sprinted around the woods for thirty minutes like a herd of buffalo and swiped random objects off the ground, including a bird egg."

"Oh." Alex looked back at his three groupmates, and they all shrugged nonchalantly.

"Also, next time, Hercules, do not blurt your full name in the middle of a trip."

"Aw. But it's so much fun!" complained Hercules, dropping his shoulders.

"Now then . . ." Washington had a slight grin on his face, something very rare for the scouts to see . . . but it all evaporated in a split second. His eyes appeared troubled, his chin lowering.

"Scouts," he addressed. "_Where are Mariah and James_?"


	4. Chapter 4 - Speculation and Jurisdiction

**Welcome back to Camping Campaigns, everybody. Okay, now I sound like a game show host when the commercials stop playing. But anyway, as most of you may know, there has been a dangerous pandemic that has forced people to stay indoors and kids to stay out of school. This would normally be seen as a great thing for us high school students, but not me. I have been so lazy and the brain cells I use to write are just disappearing. **

**Another reason I've been slow to update is because I had already written chapters 1 and 2 by the time the story was officially published on Fanfiction. There were also other stories I really wanted to publish for a while and just show to the world. But I promise that I will try not to abandon this story until it is done. Don't worry, I am not going anywhere. **

**One more thing, while I was in the middle of writing this, I noticed I received a question from somebody: KillgarraghForever. The answer is, I haven't been INVESTED while watching it, and the only reason I really knew about it was because my English 1 teacher from last semester turned on an episode, which was based on the story we were reading. The story was called "The Most Dangerous Game," which is actually a pretty good story. I really didn't like the episode of Supernatural, it was terrifying and I am not someone who likes live action so much. I prefer animation overall. Now that I think about it, Camping Campaigns could possibly be a Supernatural episode, but maybe for a younger audience. This ain't no R-rated film. **

**Anyway, here is chapter 4 of Camping Campaigns. **

**Chapter 4—Speculation **

Ever since the incident on Sunday afternoon, the scouts had been confined to the campsite. Washington recruited Angelica to be in charge while he searched for the three missing scouts, since he thought she was prepared enough to be a leader of others her age and figured if Alexander was left in charge, he would make decisions impulsively. He also didn't trust Thomas to be in charge, since he knew how much Thomas would rub his new position in Alex's face.

Angelica's first order was quite simple: stay within a twenty foot radius of the campsite and alert her if anything suspicious was seen.

Every scout was very disappointed by this order. Well, almost all of them, except for Eliza and John, who were both too scared to even leave their tents. Angelica constantly bore the burden of breaking fights between Alex and Thomas, and the arguments were usually over very petty things. On Monday morning, everyone else was woken up by the loud sound of them fighting over the number of bacon strips they should put on the frying pan. The very same afternoon, it was deciding the amount of firewood that should have gone in the firepit. Thomas insisted that they left the firewood amount alone, but Alex made the indignant suggestion to collect and add more to the pile.

The only way Angelica resolved the arguments was by getting Peggy and Hercules to help her psysically force the two apart.

"Come on, you two," she scolded in a stern tone, "three of our friends are missing and our scout leader is gone. The least we can do is try to get along for the time being, and not be difficult."

Both boys rubbed the backs of their heads.

"Thank you. Now, Alex, I know you are much more intelligent than you have been acting here lately, so would you mind cooking the hot dogs?"

Alexander shot straight up at the given opportunity to actually do something. "Aye-aye, Angie!" He scrambled away from his place and headed to the fire, unintentionally kicking dirt and dead leaves on Thomas's pants. Angelica shook her head solemnly, and extended her hand to help Thomas stand up.

"Thanks," he muttered, dusting off his pants and slumping down on a wooden log.

Angelica crossed her arms and grinned. _Yeah, those boys should __not_ _have been chosen as group leaders. _

Suddenly, she heard faint whispering from behind her, and turned. "Psst, is it clear now?"

"All clear," Angelica answered, giving the whisperers a thumbs-up.

Aaron, John, Lafayette, and Eliza all crept out of their tents with sighs of relief. They silently took their seats on the wood logs, their stomachs rumbling at the sight of Alex noisily tearing a package of raw hot dogs open and placing them on a burning pan over the fire.

A strange silence settled over the campsite. For a moment, it seemed as though everything was alright, with the humid air of Monday afternoon like a lullaby for the campers' skin, birds softly chirping throughout the forest canopy, the relief of hearing lunch was almost done. Nobody spoke for a few minutes, aside from the occasional whispers between Lafayette and Peggy.

Even when Alexander was done preparing lunch, it was quiet. He speechlessly slid cooked hot dogs into buns and set them upon paper plates, then passed out cans of soda and juice boxes from the large cooler. He took his seat between Aaron and Eliza and nibbled his lunch.

From the nearest log, Angelica leaned towards Eliza and nudged her with her elbow, winking suggestively. Eliza responded with an unnerved blush and mouthed something urgent.

"I know he is," Angelica giggled. "I'm just messing with you."

Eliza brought her hands to her face and groaned.

When everyone received their lunch, it was like the silence was completely forgotten. The scouts split into smaller groups to chat, and few of them expressed interest in the disappearance of Charles, James and Mariah. As the crackling fire shrunk down, the scouts' words dwindled into faint whispers. The dying sounds inspired the scouts to go quiet without warning.

"Um . . . it sure got quiet," Peggy squeaked awkwardly in an attempt to break the silence. "Sooo . . . what do you guys think happened to our friends?" She cleared her throat. "Just to get us talking again."

Everyone was still quiet for a moment, before Alex spoke up, "They probably just got lost. These are some thick and vast woods, after all."

"It's been a couple days, though, and they haven't returned," John shuddered, beginning to bite his nails anxiously. "What if they were taken by something . . ."

"Unlikely," Aaron and Thomas muttered at the same time.

"_Wait, _what if Angie's tale of the Windingio came _true_!" Peggy shrieked, clinging to her sisters.

"_Wendigo, _Peggy," Angelica corrected. "And it's not even a real creature, it's pure fiction. Easy there."

"Are there kidnappers in the Albany Woods?" Lafayette asked quite loudly.

"Were they taken by some curse of the forest?" Hercules suggested.

Soon, the campsite sounded like a flock of birds in a quarrel, as the scouts threw ideas of what happened to their friends at each other without the intention of stopping before the others gave up their theories. During the madness, all different theories sort of merged into two huge ones, and opposing sides physically split into two angry groups facing each other, like two neat groups of soldiers in perfect arrangements becoming disorderly. The first theory had to do with a more realistic interpretation of the missing scouts' disappearances, like getting lost, and the other had to do with a strange beast only seen in pictures taking them.

Group 1 consisted of Alex, Aaron, Thomas, and Angelica ("Surprisingly, you two agree on something," Angie mumbled) and Group 2 consisted of Lafayette, Hercules, Peggy, and John.

In the midst of the chaos, Eliza just stood there in utter terror, watching all the disharmony unfold upon her friends. She didn't know what to do, but she had to do _something _to pacify them. She knew how to pacify her sisters when they fought with negotiations and compromises, but this was a fight between two entire _groups, _which Eliza was not adept at handling. Oh, how they fought so easily.

"What if . . ." she mumbled—

"Eliza, come over here," Alex invited, extending his arm out to her and frightening her. "One more person!"

"I, uh—" The girl in question blushed, and almost took his warm hand . . .

"No, Lizzie, here!" Peggy squealed, hopping vigorously. "We need you!"

"What . . . ?"

As quickly as they started sending invitations to Eliza, the groups began to shout at each other and fight over her place to stand, and it confused her terribly. It clouded her mind, made her lose sense of reality . . .

"Everybody, _STOP_!"

The two groups went completely silent, and they turned to their taciturn friend.

"There's an explanation for their disappearances, and I believe both of yours could inherently be possible," Eliza exhaled calmly, striding between the separated groups. "But we cannot come to a conclusion until we find some evidence."

"But Eliza, we aren't allowed to leave the camp," said John, stepping forward.

"I know, I know. But do you want to find out what happened to our friends, or not?"

The other scouts stared at their toes, then mumbled reluctant apologies to the others and agreed with Eliza.

"Good. Now, I recommend separating into pairs so that we can protect each other if anything tries to attack us. Don't go too far, you could get lost. If we find nothing within twenty minutes or so, we'll return to the campsite and settle on the assumption that they got lost. Got it?"

The other scouts nodded. They were all taken aback by Eliza's sudden authoritarian attitude, the will to command them, and how well she handled each and every last ounce of attention given to her by the others. They knew she'd never done this before, they were all so used to her being cast to the side.

"Now, everyone, split into pairs quickly, and then go look around. There's got to be something. Don't stray too far, though, there is a huge chance Mr. Washington could return to the campsite and find us missing. Does everyone understand their part?"

Everyone nodded, except for Aaron. "Shouldn't somebody watch over the campsite?" he suggested.

"Oh, of course," grinned Eliza. "But someone's going to have to stay with you so you can be protected. I will appoint . . ." She looked around thoughtfully. "Angelica, you're staying here."

"Alright, Lizzie." Angelica approached Aaron, ready to spend the next half hour with him. "Oh, good job by the way," she whispered to Eliza, then winked.

"Thanks . . ."

"_I CALL DIBS ON BEING WITH PEGGY_!" John exclaimed out of the blue, sliding over to Peggy and beaming.

"Okay, okay, she's yours, I guess," Hercules chuckled, pairing up with Lafayette.

Eliza grinned as she saw her orders being followed, then someone tapped her shoulder, causing her to shriek.

"You wanna pair up?" Alexander offered, his eyes shining.

The girl stopped dead for a moment, as her face and eyes grew warm and soft. "Of course," she said, covering her mouth. "I'd love to, more than anything."

Alex joined her side, not seeming to acknowledge what she'd just said. "Really good job back there, you used some excellent vocabulary," he praised, swinging his arm around her shoulders. "I haven't even seen my own mother take charge like that before."

"Oh, uhm . . . thanks." Her face reverted back to its normal self. "Well, it looks like we're going to have to be in a group of three . . ."

She turned to Thomas, who was left without a group. "I will not be with _him,"_ Thomas scoffed, turning away like a salty toddler. "I'd rather be with Charles."

"Now Thomas, you can't stay here at the campsite, you're going to have to come with us. Unless you can get the others to let you into their group and make it a group of three."

The other two pairs of scouts nervously shook their heads, clearly not wanting Thomas in their groups.

"Well, it's settled then," Eliza smiled at Thomas, making him stare in disbelief. "This won't be so bad, you two. It's just for a _little_ bit. Try to get along, please?" She moved in front of the two boys and contorted her face so that it looked like she was expanding her pupil size in a pleading way.

"Fine," Alex mumbled. "But I'm only doing this because you said so, because unlike him, I actually _like_ you."

Thomas snorted in response.

"Great, let's go, everyone!"

Surprised by Eliza's unexpected burst of enthusiasm, the scouts went in all different directions (except Aaron and Angelica) and searched the ground for anything, _anything _that would bring their friends back.

"I don't feel safe," Aaron mumbled with a flat face.

**Okay, that was chapter 4! Halfway through, I decided I wanted to bring out a sort of authoritarian side of Eliza, a negotiating one. Because who doesn't love Eliza? **

**I have some big plans for chapter 5, but it could be a little while. For now, stay safe, and wash your hands. Bye! **


	5. Chapter 5 - Stay or Leave?

**OH GOSH, guys, I am SO SORRY for the long wait. I've been slacking off, playing video games and sleeping in later than normal because . . . quarantine, I actually get to be lazy. **

**Also, I just now gained an idea, you know, as I'm writing this author's note. I know, over time my updates are getting more and more slow, but I struggle with writer's block. I'm sure my fellow fanfiction writers can relate, I've been hitting some serious writer's blocks lately, especially with this story. I was thinking a lot about what I would do for chapter 5, knowing every minute I spend not writing this is a minute I spend letting everyone down. **

**Ahem. Sorry for that. But all good writers must take their time with their writing for it to have a good outcome. **

**Yes, here is the long awaited chapter 5, thank you guys so much for being patient. **

**I was listening to Cell Block Tango again and again while writing this, help me. **

**Chapter 5—Stay or Leave? **

After around half an hour of searching the Albany Woods, everyone regrouped back at the campsite. They all collapsed on the ground or plopped down on the logs hopelessly (even Hercules muttered "I give up on life," and went into his tent). Unfortunately, they all had either solemn or concerned expressions, as none of them had reported to have found anything . . .

"_AARON DISAPPEARED!_"

Angelica sprinted up to Alexander, Eliza and Thomas, her thick, curled hair frizzy, and her face appearing horribly petrified. She seized Alex by the shoulders and juddered him around like he was a maraca.

"W-what?" Alex mumbled, unphased by the harsh shaking.

"Angelica, what happened?" Eliza asked with worry, gently separating Angelica and Alexander and placing a hand on her sister's shoulder.

"I was sitting on the log, reading a book while Aaron was relaxing on the log closest to me, and . . . then I felt something cold brush past me, I can't explain it, it was like . . . like winter had come for just a split second. Then I looked over, and Aaron was gone."

The other scouts expressed their own worries, exchanging nervous glances and whispering among each other. Peggy and Eliza came to comfort their terrified sister, while the boys discussed Aaron's disappearance. Just as a horrible whine had come from one of the girls, Washington had come storming back to the campsite with a most grim countenance. He appeared to be very out of breath, shaky, even mildly thinner than he was before the trip had begun.

"Mr. Washington, sir!" Alex exclaimed, immediately abandoning the group to see if their leader was in good condition. "What has happened?"

"I . . . haven't found the missing scouts," he explained in a disheartened manner. "But what I have seen is merely too indescribable for me at the moment."

All the other scouts came to their leader's aid, offering him juice boxes, crackers, and a comfortable fold-up chair beside the firepit to help calm him down. He then went through and described what he'd seen in the best way he could. From what the children had understood, Washington saw a black creature as he was walking through the forest that soon attacked him. Fortunately, the man was only lightly wounded. Eliza swiped a band-aid box and slipped a bandaid out, gently placing it on one of his glowing slashes, and explained that Aaron too had gone missing.

"Thank you, Eliza. And everyone. I don't believe I will be going out into the woods without you again. Four of us have already gone missing. This creature, I can't even remember its shape, it was almost formless. I won't be leaving you alone, it has the potential to take one of your lives."

Peggy nearly dropped unconscious at the last statement. Angelica dragged her away to a tent so she could calm down as well.

"Monsieur Washington, do you genuinely believe it is a good idea to remain in the forest any longer?" Lafayette asked, qualm tinting his voice. He adjusted his ponytail and crossed his arms.

"Laf, I appreciate your voice of reason, unlike _some _people we know, but our friends are lost in the _woods_ right now and we cannot leave without them," said Thomas, giving a sideways glance to Alex, who glowered in exchange.

"Don't look at me, if you had the opportunity you'd leave!"

"Uh _huh._"

"Boys, enough arguing," Washington snapped, slamming his juice box on the armrest.

He buried his face in his large hands, leaving it there for a silent moment, seemingly out of sheer frustration. When he lifted his head, the scouts all blinked at him awkwardly. "Look. Scouts. Can I be real a second . . . I know all of you see me as some big, fearless man who's always ready to face everything. But, truth be told, I wasn't prepared for anything like this to happen. Sure, I was ready for if we ended up being near a bear, but nothing beyond that. You all know what to do in that situation. And I don't even know what to do in _this _one."

The scouts had nothing to say. They were all shocked, dumbfounded, speechless, their faces blank and devoid of any emotion.

"If we go home without the four missing scouts, their parents' and even your lives would potentially be ruined."

After Washington finished speaking, the children began giving each other confused looks, and whispering about their apathy of Charles' disappearance. No one really knew what to say from that point. The main topic of discussion for the rest of the day was the subject of leaving and going home. They all seemed to be divided. Some of them wanted to stay and search for their peers, some of them wanted to leave out of fear and pronounce the missing scouts dead.

Soon a theory, created by Alexander, became known: the theory that at least one of the missing scouts had inexplicably gone out somewhere distant from the campsite and committed suicide by eating deadly nightshade berries. Washington did not approve of this theory and told the scouts not to discuss it, since it would further frighten them and he didn't want that for them.

But Washington himself didn't know what to do next by any means. He knew he should have kept the remaining scouts safe and comfortable in the present, but he wasn't certain how he'd find the scouts, or if he didn't recover them, how he'd explain their disappearances to their guardians. He feared not only losing innocent children permanently, but also being deemed an irresponsible leader by parents who had trusted him for months, or even years.

That day, the group did nothing. They didn't go out and do any of the activities Washington had planned, they simply stayed at the campsite, writhing in their own terror. In the night they slept with difficulty, they lay, half awake, staying still, like dolls in the dim, confused corners of an attic, for each of them feared their own disappearance would come next.

The one scout who felt the least fear was Alex, for he'd been the most bold of them, and felt he could defend himself if anything came to attack.

He grew tired and bored of laying in his tent while the other three boys in his group were half-asleep. But before he rose up to leave the tent, he noticed a faint glow, like luminescent gold, through the translucent tent flap. The light expanded, not without gentleness and grace, blooming like a carnation of embers. Alexander unzipped the tent flap, and peeked outside. He saw a familiar silhouette against the fire, which was now just large enough so that he could recognize who the starter of the fire was. He blinked, his vision clearing.

"Eliza?"

Eliza jumped, and jerked her head backwards. She was seated atop the log in front of her tent in her day clothes, her pale face tired and evidently displaying fright. "Alexander? It's the middle of the night," she mumbled, her voice weak.

"I know, I know. I could not help but notice the fire," Alexander explained, lightly stepping out of his tent and standing beside her. "Do you mind . . .?"

"Hmm? Oh. Not at all." Eliza patted the spot next to her on the log, scooting over to make room.

"Thank you. I've had a lot of trouble sleeping, so . . ."

"So have I . . . do you think we'll find the others?" Clearly, Eliza had been thinking about this. Her eyes turned misty and large, like big, dark marbles.

Alexander sighed, placing a hand of comfort on the girl's shoulder. "I don't know. Heck, one of us just might be the next one to disappear. If I'm honest, I would say that I didn't expect you to come out this time of night to sit alone."

"I got tired of being kicked in the face by Peggy," said Eliza blankly, twirling her hair around her fingers like string.

"Ah. That explains a lot." Alex rubbed the back of his neck, his eyes fixated on the fire.

Both of them sat in silence for a little while. Eliza, at one point, had said to Alexander, in sheer shock, that she'd heard sounds of eerie whispers and unfamiliar wails in the distance of the forest, so the boy allowed her to stay close to him. She leaned on his shoulder, as he wrapped his arm around her. Alexander could feel quivering against his side for a brief moment, which he could only guess had been coming from Eliza, but she simmered down eventually. A mild shade of pink appeared on her smooth cheeks.

"Alex, you're smart," she said, though she sounded uncertain of herself, "so do you _really_ believe that one of them ate nightshade berries? Mr. Washington has told us not to . . ."

"Hah, not really." Alex shrugged. "But, let me be real, Charles would likely hurt himself by eating them. I know, Charles and I don't get along, but I do not wish _death_ upon him."

"Neither do I. I hope my sisters don't disappear, either. Peggy was really upset when Mariah disappeared, I don't need either of my sisters disappearing like that." Eliza blinked slowly, her body practically going limp against Alexander's. Neither of them felt too afraid being out in the night anymore.

_As long as Eliza is okay tonight, _thought Alexander, clutching a sleepy Eliza tightly, _then I think I will be fine. _

**There is a reference to my favorite classic novel, Animal Farm, in this book. If any of you have read it, I hope you can find it. It's very obscure, though. **

**So this chapter is only to minorly progress the plot. It was intended to sort of show how the characters are growing uncertain and aren't sure they should face the conflict. And of course, we got some cute moments between Alex and Eliza. It's my favorite Hamilton ship. **

**Seriously, why the heck do people ship Lams, I mean no hate, but can someone explain-**


	6. Chapter 6 - Deduct From the Set

**Greetings and salutations, everyone. If you get that reference, I love you so much. I mean, I already love you even if you don't—**

**What were we talking about? Oh, right. So the day I published chapter 5, a couple of people explained to me why Lams is such a popular ship (if you did, thank you, I appreciate it). **

**But I'm gonna be honest . . . this might just be because I'm an Aspie and I have a hard time seeing romantic connections, but in the musical, I never saw any sort of romantic chemistry between Hamilton and Laurens. And to me, just saying "I love you" in a real historical letter doesn't equal an instant romantic relationship. Plus, I don't tend to ship best friends in most cases. (Steven and Connie from Steven Universe are a rare case. They clearly have something, and Connie even kisses the former in the movie.) **

**That's just me, though. If you can see that they have something going on and you ship them more than Amazon ships packages, then that's good for you. Many people are better at identifying romantic chemistry between two characters than I am, and I've known that for a while. I won't bash someone for liking a ship, even one I consider to be overrated. But hey, I used to ship Elams a whole lot (a polyamory ship; Alex, Eliza, and John together). **

**Okay, I got that off my chest. Also, I want to say that I might be inaccurate about some of the safety precautions for camping, or any of the survival tactics in the wilderness. So this story will not be 100% accurate about camping. Just take this with a grain of salt, it's a fictional story. Now, I am now proud to present . . . chapter 6. **

**Chapter 6—Deduct From the Set **

By the time morning had come, the fire had completely burnt out, not a single spark to be seen. Alexander and Eliza had fallen asleep on the very same log they conversed upon, Alex's head propped up on the latter's, who had curled up into a fetal position.

Angelica was the first of the scouts to emerge from her slumber, as she rose up from her sleeping bag without a lick of exhaustion or reluctancy, and she violently swished the tent flap open. She spotted Eliza and Alex on the log straight in front of her, and she shook her head, but it had become apparent that she wasn't hallucinating as she thought she was.

"Wake up, sleeping beauties," she said plainly, following it with a breath.

Alexander was the first to stir. He groaned and clutched his forehead; the first thing he'd seen was Eliza in front of him. "Uhh . . ."

Eliza immediately shot up, her hair swiping against Alex's face like a thin flag and frightening him into toppling off the log. "Alex? Are you alright?" She quickly observed her surroundings. "Did we fall asleep here?"

Angelica's mouth straightened and she nodded. "What were you guys doing out here in the night?" She paused, putting a finger to her chin. "OH! _Ohhhh." _The girl chuckled and crossed her arms, wiggling her eyebrows at the other two in a rather suggestive manner. "I see."

Simultaneously, Alex and Eliza blurted, "NO!"

"W-we weren't . . ." Eliza buried her face in her hands, reddening. "_Angie_."

"You know, if you two wanted to be alone, you could have always just gone to a separate part of the woods."

Both of them glared at her.

"Relax. I'm just teasing. But anyway, good morning, sleep well?" Angelica joined them on the log, delicately seating herself.

"We slept fine," said Eliza.

"Clearly," Alex added.

"I'm seriously hoping nobody goes missing today," Angelica sighed, tracing her finger in the dew-swathed grass. "When Aaron disappeared yesterday I didn't know what to do. I was in such a state of shock, I almost completely blacked out, I hardly remember a thing. It was all too sudden for me." She kicked her feet once. "Any guesses for who goes next? This is pretty much a pattern at this point."

"There's no way of knowing. It's quite random." Alexander pursed his lips and exhaled, creating a soft whistling sound. "Besides, I don't exactly think Mr. Washington wants to leave with some scouts missing."

Eliza grimaced at the ground, as if she were disgusted by the topics brought up in the short conversation.

"_What the . . . has anyone seen John?" _

It was Hercules' voice. The trio outside heard shuffling in one of the tents, and turned their heads and stood with interest. Lafayette and Hercules poked their heads out from under the tent flap and turned to the others. "Our friend appears to be gone," said Lafayette.

"Maybe he went into the woods to pee," Alexander guessed.

Angelica pinched the bridge of her nose. "_Alex_," she sighed, a hint of impatience in her voice, "us scouts have been dropping in numbers like flies as of late, with no hint as to where they could be. So, where do you _really _think John went?"

Alex flushed with embarrassment. He looked at his toes as his eyes vanished from visibility, dark bangs dropping over them. "I just need—" He collapsed back on the log, resting his elbows on his knees.

"Alexander?" Eliza felt something burn her throat and eyes, and she placed a small hand on the boy's shoulder.

"I don't think—"

"Good morning, scouts, is everyone rested?" Washington emerged from his tent, fully dressed in his scout chaperone wear. He quickly discerned the situation, examining each scout's bleak, shocked countenance (Peggy started sobbing uncontrollably). "Who went missing."

"Missing?" Thomas shoved the tent flaps open and sauntered over to the logs.

"John," Alex uttered. "He's my closest friend." He stood up, went to his tent, and shoved the flaps open to enter.

Outside, Angelica almost looked angry, as she lowered her head and delicately pressed her fingers against her forehead. "If one more scout goes missing . . ."

"Um . . . I found something." Alex emerged from the tent again, this time with something atop his hand. A stone as black as the night with incredible luster lay atop his hands, shining like a freshly varnished surface.

"Now what in the _world _kind of rock did you put in the tent?" Angelica stepped closer and took a better look at the rock, then her angry expression vanished. "That . . . is a weird rock."

Washington hurried over to Alex, and leaned down to his hand. "I am almost certain this is the same kind of rock Aaron found a couple days ago." He sighed and stood upright, placing his hands behind his back. "Alright, listen up, scouts. I hardly believe this is a safe area of the forest to stay anymore. There might be something dangerous here that's causing some of the scouts to disappear. We're going to have to move the campsite away from the trail. Unfortunately, we'll have to walk quite a bit, so keep a lookout for any of the missing scouts."

The remaining scouts nodded slowly, some concerned, some concerned _and _upset. Alexander had this blank countenance on his face, his wide eyes seemed to be almost completely devoid of emotion.

"Okay, take down the tents, some of us will have to carry things. Hercules, will you and Lafayette help me carry the heavier stuff?"

Hercules and Lafayette both answered "Yes."

"And, one more thing, scouts . . . whatever you do during our walk . . . _be absolutely cautious. _Watch where you are walking, and stay together. Be careful to not fall behind. Am I clear?"

Once again, everyone nodded. They soon got to work, stuffing things in bags, storing food in the cooler, and ripping the pegs supporting the tent from the ground. Washington had to help roll up the tents correctly, since the Schuyler sisters were struggling to do it. Thomas and Lafayette sloppily crammed bug spray and a bag of marshmallows into a bag, as Hercules hoisted one of the rolled up tents up on his back.

When they were all packed up and ready to go, Washington led the scouts through the forest, past the old well and the pond, past dozens of trees and away from wherever it was too dark to see.

Midway through the walk, Peggy began to complain that her feet were hurting, and so did Thomas and Eliza. So the group found a small glittering stream in the forest and sat down to have sandwiches for lunch, since building a fire wasn't needed. After quickly scarfing down the sandwiches, they continued on their solemn walk, hardly talking and hardly even pointing out some of the adorable wild animals that passed by.

But soon, after fatiguing hours of walking through the forest, feet aching, knees wobbling with weakness, Mr. Washington and his exhausted scouts finally found something that restored their hope of survival, their hope of finding shelter . . .

_A dry cave. _

**Sorry about the long author's note up there, guys. I just have a lot to say sometimes. This note down here is not gonna be anything, so . . . have a good day/night, and be safe. **

**Oh, and happy Pride Month (I know I'm late ;-;) to anyone who is LGBT . . . or not, just Happy Pride Month to everyone. I myself am heteroromantic and asexual, so . . . yeah. Have a good day/night and be safe in quarantine. **


	7. Chapter 7 - Cave Campaigns

**Welcome back, everyone, hope you're having a pleasant day or night. As for me, I often write and finish these chapters up late at night. I don't know, I'm a bit of a night owl. **

**Anyway, I know, lately I've been writing really short chapters, and I apologize for that. (Unless fanfiction readers like short chapters..? I don't know.) This one's going to be longer. From here, it's going to get a lot darker, more suspenseful (as if it isn't suspenseful enough), and just... you know. **

**Oh and by the way, DID YOU GUYS SEE HAMILTON ON DISNEY+? Holy moly, it was fantastic! At 2:30 A.M. on July 3rd, my older sister, who's a grown woman, by the way, and was at my mom's house (my parents are divorced and live separately), texted me, and I kinda just got out of my morning fever dream phase to text her. She was watching the play while we texted, and I was just in my room, in the dark, laying on my bed. Later that day, when the sun was up, I went up to see Hamilton in the living room and it was great. I drew some fan art of it right after, based on the song Burn. **

**Alright, I'll stop going on about that, let's get into this. **

**Chapter Seven—Cave Campaigns**

As the sun subsided to its gentle golden glow, seeping through the gaps of leaves and striking the grass with gilded outlines, Washington and the scouts were secluded in a cave, setting their camp back up like they had back out in the forest. Although there was much chatter, the scouts were still considerably worried, while Washington kept his cool. He himself was worried, too, but he didn't want the children to know that, or they'd all panic even more.

When they'd first gotten there, Peggy and Lafayette peered around the corner excitedly to see if their friends had gone there, but it was empty. There was a rat that emerged from the darkness (Eliza shrieked at it and ran into Alex) but other than that, there were no signs of life.

Along the way, Lafayette had secretly been gathering sticks to use for a fire at night, much to everyone else's relief. The sticks were dumped in a dry corner of the cave for when they needed to be used, but Hercules was paranoid that they'd get damp and they wouldn't be able to use them that night.

After setting everything except the tents back up, the group was able to settle in the cave, each member nervous and shuddering, some more than others. Lafayette, Peggy and Hercules remained close to each other with the agreement that they'd protect each other if any danger came near, and Eliza was particularly clingy to Alex—so much so that Angelica was becoming suspicious and occasionally glimpsed Alex. The boy could do nothing except smile it off and release false chuckles.

Thomas was the only one not engaging in social interaction with anyone. He sat in a dim corner of the cave, his face even dimmer than his spot, and didn't even mutter a word. At one point, Angelica came over to him, noticing that he looked distraught, and with hesitation, he explained it.

"I miss James," he mumbled, a crack in his voice. "He's gone and we have no way of tracking him . . ."

Angelica, with a concerned face, sat down beside him and smoothed her shorts. "We'll find him soon, Thomas. We're all still together now, and . . . I know you don't get along with Alex and you're not quite so fond of Lafayette and Hercules, but they're still here, too, and you and them are so, _so _strong. Strong enough to get through this. Our friends may still be missing, but we have enough time to find them, we will search every inch of these woods if we have to. But we _will _find our friends. I promise."

Thomas looked to Angelica, and cracked a small grin. "Perhaps it isn't as bad as we may think . . . I mean, we _are _in a cave with food and tents and sticks for a fire."

Washington suddenly stood up from his lawn chair and stood in front of the scouts. "I have some news, scouts," he said, "we're running low on food. We will have to ration it for the next couple days. I'm sorry."

Thomas buried his forehead in his knees.

"Hey, hey, calm down," Angelica said, hasty to put a hand on his shoulder. "Tomorrow, we will track down our friends, and we'll bring them back and make sure they're okay. Then we will leave this cursed place. Try not to think of all the bad that could happen. Oh, Thomas, don't cry, please—"

It was too late. Thomas was soaking his pants in hot spit and tears. Angelica was quite taken aback. She'd never seen a boy older than six cry. Not that she thought boys shouldn't cry, but she was rather surprised to see such an intelligent, bold, twelve-year-old boy break down in weakness, crumbling like the ruins of a strong structure after a war of solid rage, passionate flames, and unforgiving enemies. She'd never seen such crumbling before.

From about ten feet away, Eliza noticed Thomas sobbing, and she gently let go of Alexander to come and comfort him. Once again, Angelica was surprised. Thomas and Eliza weren't close friends or anything of that sort, yet here Eliza was, hugging him and whispering comforting words. She was always utterly shocked, paralyzed by her sister's willingness to be kind and warm.

"You'll see him again soon, don't worry," said Eliza, patting Thomas's arm softly.

"Okay . . ."

Eliza nodded down at him as she stood up and went back over to Alex. Then she looked back to him, and gestured for him to come sit beside her.

"Sit near _him? _No thank you," Thomas huffed, glaring at Alex.

"Oh come on," Angelica smirked. "You guys need to get along."

Washington sighed from his lawn chair.

"Not interested in that," said Alex plainly. "This guy makes out with macaroni boxes. Charles had more dignity."

"Hey! That is not true!" Thomas snarled, clenching his fists.

Peggy, Lafayette and Hercules couldn't help snickering.

"Now, now, scouts, we are _not _going to have a fight in this cave," Washington said, somehow still calm. "We are all in a tight situation and nobody knows what is to come, nobody knows where the missing scouts went and we are tight on food."

The children all went still and silent.

"I suppose we could _try _to get along," Alex grunted, biting his lip.

"Wonderful," Washington replied, sitting back down in his chair. "It will be getting dark soon, so I'll start the fire in a little bit, and everyone will get a snack. We don't have much at the moment, so don't take more than one thing."

It was soon decided that each scout would either get one chip bag or a small pack of crackers. They weren't too quick to consume their snacks, as they wanted to save the little food they were going to have for the next day or two. This was throwing them all off the life they once had, it was like they were seized by the hands of the wilderness and paranoia and thrust into a situation that felt like poverty. One would nag them about "how good their generation had it," and how they shouldn't be mad, but if you were suddenly tossed outside of your comfort zone, wouldn't you be a little upset?

When the sun set below the sky and the trees faded into dark, looming silhouettes against glittering stars, Washington set a pile of sticks ablaze and used a bag of chips as kindling. He said not to worry, as it was only a single bag of chips and he had some flammable oil for the fire anyway. Then everyone lay their sleeping bags out on the floor of the cave, settling in as they drifted off to sleep one by one while the fire kept going strong.

Alex, Eliza and Thomas were the last ones to fall asleep. Eliza had been trying her hardest to bring them together, and she somewhat succeeded. She was able to get them to carry a conversation with one another, and even playfully pick at each other. But occasionally they became quite angry and defensive in things they disagreed on, and Eliza had to pacify them. (At one point, Thomas pulled Eliza away from Alex with the claim that he was "protecting her from his negative influence.")

Eliza simply chuckled and lifted herself back up.

As the two boys were talking, she slowly fell asleep in her sleeping bag, hair draped over her face. Before he went to sleep, Alex hugged her, and whispered a promise of keeping her safe in this whole dilemma. Thomas nodded with a small smile at Alex, before he turned over and tucked himself into his sleeping bag.

The whole cave was silent and peaceful in an instant.

. . . . . . .

"_HELP! SOMEBODY HELP ME! PLEASE!" _

Everyone woke with a start.

Peggy was being dragged out of her sleeping bag by who knows what, trying to cling onto the floor for dear life.

"PEGGY?" Angelica leapt out of her sleeping bag, and grasped Peggy's smaller hands with as much strength as she could manage. Hercules and Lafeyette scrambled out of their sleeping bags as well and held onto Peggy, as everyone else looked on, horrified, pale, speechless, with disheveled hair and exhausted expressions.

"ANGIE! WHAT'S GOING ON! DON'T LET GO!"

"I WON'T!"

Washington, Thomas, Eliza, and Alex all jumped up at once and helped the others pull Peggy back into the cave. Angelica observed that it wasn't an invisible force yanking her sister out of her slumber . . . there was a silhouette of a creeping, eldritch hand against the wall, squeezing the shadow of Peggy's ankle and not budging a bit. Peggy continued to shriek and cry, her face was growing paler than milk, she felt so cold.

But they couldn't hold on.

Even Washington's strength gave through, and Peggy slipped right out of their hands, the eerie silhouette dragging her across the woods and out of sight as she attempted to dig her nails into trees and dirt.

"NO! PEGGY!" Eliza unleashed a shrieking wail, which echoed through the cave, and she sank to her knees, sobbing with no sign of stopping. Her breathing patterns made her look so dysfunctional, so broken, so unlike her old self . . . Her sister had just been ripped away from her while she was in a state where she couldn't fully comprehend what was happening, and they hadn't been strong enough to counter the force.

Everyone was so out of breath. Angelica knelt down beside Eliza to hug her, as she began to cry onto her sister's shoulder. Lafyette and Hercules could only stare in shock. Alex and Thomas exchanged confused and horrified glances. Washington bowed his head, furrowing his brow, like he'd just been scarred for life.

Nobody spoke for moments.

Finally, Angelica lifted herself up and gazed out the cave's mouth. "She could be miles away from here," she murmured, setting her solemn eyes on the group.

"We need to go out and look. We can't waste anymore time," said Thomas, stepping forward. "I say we leave now. We can leave a trail of items and location markers behind so we don't get lost in the woods, and we can find our way back to the cave when it starts to get dark."

"Hate to say it, but good thinking, Thomas," Alex commented.

"_OkaybutcanwepleasehurryupIreallywannagetPeggyback!" _Eliza whined, lifting her face from her soaked hands.

"You know, Thomas, your idea might work. And yes, we should move quickly, Eliza, if we want to find any of the missing scouts," Washington said. "Now, up, everyone. Pack snacks. We'll be out for a while . . . and I'm not so sure this will be the most pleasant walk through the woods. There's something dangerous out there. I was hesitant to believe it at first, but I now believe the forest is under some supernatural influence. Peggy couldn't have been dragged like that by herself."

"I don't think I'm ready to go out there," Hercules frowned, cowering from the mouth of the cave.

"We gotta if we want to find John! Or James," Angelica huffed in a sassy tone, leaning against the cave wall. "Or Mariah, or . . . Aaron or Peggy . . ."

"Then we have to get going," said Alex, heaving a bag of snacks over his shoulder. "I don't want my friend missing any more than you guys do."

Everyone simply shrugged at each other, worried and scared beyond belief. They were able to look past it for a moment to step outside the cave and begin the daunting task of finding their lost friends.

But none of them had noticed two shining black rocks left in the sleeping bags.

**So that's chapter 7. I'm actually planning for there to be 10 chapters, and it's going to get much bleaker and darker from here. Sorry. ;-;**

**Anyway, I have good news; lately I feel like I've had a MASSIVE leap in creativity, so I can write and draw more than usual. So I probably won't take as long to publish chapter 8. Not a guarantee, but look out for it. **

**Well, that's all I have to say for right now. Have a good day/night/whatever weird time of day the aliens have. **


	8. Chapter 8 - Three

**Bonjour, my fellow teens (I think you're teens…? Sorry if you're not-) **

**Today I don't really have much to say, but I WILL say that I'm starting school back on August 17th. I'm honestly a bit nervous, because it's high school, I'm gonna be a sophomore. I didn't struggle with freshman year that much, though, how bad is sophomore year going to be? **

**Also, I have to respond to a comment. **

**Hitthepin: I don't show my art anywhere on the Internet except Discord, I just show my art to my friends there. I don't have a DeviantArt account mostly due to the fact that I only do traditional art, and not digital art. And I'm scared to go on there, I've heard there's some pretty disturbing stuff on there. If you want to talk to me through Discord, though, feel free to PM me about it. **

**Anyway, on with the chapter. **

**Chapter Eight—Three **

Washington and the scouts spent the entire day wandering the woods, with absolutely no signs of the missing kids. Halfway through the search, Thomas and Angelica were complaining that their feet were in agony, and Alex and Angelica kept pointing out that they were lost, despite the trail of markers Lafayette and Hercules had been leaving behind for them.

During the long walk, there wasn't much loud chatter like there had been before. About an hour in, Eliza found another shiny black rock on the ground, examining it with great interest. She reported it to Washington, who finally admitted that it was rather strange seeing so many of these objects on the ground, on the surface, in the middle of the _woods. _All the scouts were suspicious as well, and they developed theories again.

Alexander came up with a silly theory about gemstones shooting up from the ground due to high pressure from underground, and he was hopeful at the possibility of finding diamonds. Thomas thumped him on the back of the head in response to the theory, claiming it was "dumb and far-fetched."

"Well, Thomas, do _you _have a better theory?" Alex retaliated. "We can throw hands if y—"

Eliza had to physically break up the fight again, resulting in her getting a blow delivered to her forearm, which Alex promptly apologized for.

"Simp," Thomas chuckled.

Alex shot a murderous glare at him.

By the time they'd run out of snacks (7:34 in the evening, to be exact; Angelica had snagged the last bag of chips) they were all exhausted, and ready to return to the cave. The walk back was absolutely miserable. Both the remaining Schuyler sisters held each other for comfort, as the four remaining boys bit their nails from fear. They began suspecting everything they came across, flinched at the slightest bit of movement in the forest, even the tiny forest insects frightened them.

Washington was the only one who everyone could agree was level-headed at the moment. He was the one person who didn't jump at every little thing, and kept his cool, despite being a panicking disaster internally. Nobody could sense he was stressed, he'd done such a good job of hiding it.

When they reached the cave again, the scouts collapsed simultaneously from exhaustion. Their feet ached terribly, sore and blistered from the search. Hercules and Lafayette grabbed their feet and twisted them, the popping sounds of their ankles hardly bearable to the others. Angelica and Eliza mourned over the fact that their sister and Mariah were still missing. Alex and Thomas had a concerned conversation with Washington about what to do, and the latter made his decision quickly.

"I'm going back out," he said, snatching a flashlight from off the floor.

"_What?" _

"Mr. Washington, you can't go, not this late, please don't go," Eliza pleaded, approaching her leader with clasped hands.

"I can, and I will, Eliza," the man responded calmly, not even turning to make eye contact with her. "If you want your friends and sister to come back . . ." He pulled out his gun from the bag, which shocked the kids at first, and he draped the gun strap over his shoulder. "I'm going to need this in case I must defend myself."

"It's safer in the cave, sir," Alexander commented, a fire sparking under his hands. The fire enlarged and emitted an amber glow throughout the small cave, igniting almost every corner instantly.

"And I'd rather risk my safety looking for the missing scouts than put you all through any more fatigue in the wilderness. Angelica, you're the most responsible one. I'll have you in charge once again."

"Yes, Mr. Washington," said Angelica sternly, nodding.

Washington sighed and stepped up to the mouth of the cave. "Try your best to keep each other safe. Don't lose _anyone _else. I'm not certain what's going on in these woods, but . . . well . . . I'll be back within a matter of hours."

With that, he left in a slow walk, not in much of a hurry from how firmly he walked ahead of the scouts earlier that day, a true leader, one to be followed . . . now he walked alone, no one at his side. His silhouette faded into the dimness of the distance, sunlight subsiding and fading behind the looming trees.

"So, what now, guys?" Angelica asked, turning back to her fellow campers, stepping closer to the fire.

"I don't really know . . . there isn't much _to_ do," sighed Hercules, fidgeting with a rock he'd found on the floor.

"Ne t'inquiète pas, mon ami," said Lafayette. He put a hand on his friend's shoulder. "I shall defend you all with my life if anything comes . . . and with this stick." He suddenly reached behind him and pulled out a long, pointed branch, seemingly out of nowhere.

"That could be used for defense, I suppose," Eliza said, striding up to Alex and taking a seat beside him.

"If used _properly," _Angelica remarked, rummaging through one of the bags to see if there were any snacks left. "Anyone hungry?"

"I am," Alex mumbled.

Angelica tossed him a granola bar.

"Thanks."

"Don't mention it." She slumped down next to Thomas, smoothing her shirt. "So . . . what do you guys think is taking our friends?"

"Some greedy beast," Lafayette suggested as he sanded down his stick with a rock.

"A bear." Thomas was straightforward with his answer; no contrived explanation.

"The thing that took Peggy away earlier _definitely _didn't look like a . . . _bear,_" Eliza whispered, Alexander nodding in agreement.

"True. It did look more like a shadow of sorts," he added.

Angelica frowned, standing up and narrowing her dark eyes. "Everyone," she said sharply. "Do you think the forest's nickname might have _some _meaning behind it? The George _Phantom _Woods?"

"If there's a phantom wandering the forest, who in the world is George?" Hercules questioned. He looked around him for a stick like Lafayette's so he could have a 'defense weapon' too.

"The phantom, of course . . . but I don't know who he could have been. This theory might be a little out there. What other explanation do we have, though?"

"You're surprisingly calm for someone who believes this theory," said Thomas with a raised eyebrow.

"I don't exactly believe my own theory, per se. I'm just suggesting it as a possibility. The alternate name of the forest has to have some history behind it, a reason it's named that."

"Perhaps it's sheer coincidence and we're all crazy and we're all hallucinating and none of this is actually real," Eliza hastily poured out, running her fingers through her hair out of stress.

Alexander held her close, rubbing her back to calm her down. "Don't get carried away with this, Eliza, it's alright," he soothed.

"Actually, she might not be wrong," said Thomas with a shrug.

Angelica gave him a blank look.

"We should skip sleeping tonight, just in case," said Hercules. He gripped his knees, settling for a rock he'd picked up from the ground as a defense weapon.

"I don't think we all have to stay up. Here, I have an idea." Angelica cleared her throat. "We can take turns watching over each other. Look, me, Thomas and Alex can watch for a while, and then Eliza, Hercules and Lafayette can watch over while _we _sleep."

"There is just one flaw in your plan, Angelica," Alexander pointed out. "How are we supposed to keep track of time so we know when to switch positions?"

"Um, well . . . you're right. I didn't consider that. Hmm . . . maybe we should all just stay awake. If we're sleeping and that thing catches one of us, it will be too late to react and get out of the situation. Try to stay up as long as you can. If we fall asleep, then . . ." She trailed off, failing to finish her sentence as she sat down again.

The other scouts stayed quiet; they knew what was to happen if any of them were to so much as rest their nerves for a moment. The mysterious captor would strike once more. For a while, they sat in uncomfortable, eerie silence, just waiting for something to happen. Nothing ever did; they were constantly tormented with the thought of being startled by hands seizing them by their ankles and dragging them into eternal darkness, never to see the light of day again.

A final scowl came out of Angelica, as she shot up with her arms crossed. "Forget what I said. I want my sister back. I want our friends back. I'm going out there."

"Angie, don't! We have to stay here!" Eliza stood and squeezed her sister's arm, brown eyes filled to the brim with pleading sorrow.

"_You _stay here. You need to be safe. _I'm _going."

"We will come as well, pour vous assister," Lafayette said, planting his foot firmly on the ground as he clutched his stick. Hercules nodded alongside him.

"Are you three mad? You will get lost out there," Thomas glared, extending his hands to express confusion and protest.

"Laf has excellent navigation skills, mind you," Hercules informed him, leaning over with his hands placed behind his back.

"But the thing—"

"Defense," Lafayette said simply, holding out his stick that he'd sharpened into a spear-like tool.

"Even I must admit this is quite rash of you, Angelica," Alexander tried to reason with them, tilting his head to the left.

"You can't say anything, you're the _King _of Rash," Angelica responded.

Alexander paled, his hands dropped in temperature significantly, his heart pounded in his chest like a series of quick, yet jolting earthquakes, and he staggered back. "You're not rational anymore, Angelica," he muttered.

"If I need to be irrational to save my own sister, then yeah, I'm _more _than willing to be."

Angelica signaled for Lafayette and Hercules to follow her; they did, and they all marched out of the cave. Eliza helplessly called after them, but she wouldn't even step out beyond the line between the shadowed grass of the woods and the rocky floor of the cave, like there was some forcefield that enclosed her, confining her to the limited space.

"_Angie!" _

"Should we go after them?" Alex asked in a panic.

"_YES!" _

The high shriek made both the boys' blood run cold, like a river in the arctic, and without thinking twice, they bolted out after the trio that had just left.

"_W-wait! GUYS! HELP!" _

The three of them stopped, paralyzed, like cold stone statues in the presence of Medusa. Lafayette, Angelica and Hercules were all sprinting back at full speed, their eyes broad with terror, trauma. Before they could make it back to the cave, though, a barricade of pitch slammed down over them, mildly translucent, so that they could see each other through. But it was still unclear, hazy, like trying to look through thick smoke.

"WHAT IS THAT THING?"

"_I DON'T KNOW!" _

The barrier formed an eldritch hand, spiny, bone-thin, enormous bent thorns for joints and fingers. Before Angelica, Lafayette and Hercules could leap over it, it crackled with the sound of splitting rock, and divided into three smaller arms, seizing the three by the ankles and trawling them across the dry soil, leaving trails of screams and hand prints behind.

"COME BACK!"

Thomas, Alex and Eliza zoomed after them, thick tears fringing their eyes, a coat of mist and saltiness, making it even more difficult to see clearly in the tenebrosity of nightly, sinister woods. Eliza's hands reached out as she watched the shadowy arms pull her friends and sister away, wistful, longing. She stared in the long distance, barely breathing for a decent minute, and she collapsed to her knees for a final wail of helplessness. She sounded so ailing, so terribly shattered, like a delicate glass of desolation.

"Eliza . . .?"

Alexander knelt down beside his friend, almost ready to sob along with her. Thomas couldn't help his urge to comfort her, either. Together, the boys assisted her in getting back to the cave, as she could not even walk, her eyelids clenched so tightly together that tears could almost not escape. But they did; they made a similar trail to the one that was left behind when her sister and friends were suddenly yanked out of her life, possibly to never be seen again. Except this trail was left by her alone; a trail of tears, wept out of the purest melancholy and trepidation.

"Th-they'll be okay . . ."

Eliza would not allow Alexander to release her. It didn't help so much, but they both knew it was all Alexander could do to comfort her. Nothing he said, not even with his broad vocabulary and mind, could assuage her distress. Any time she unleashed a soprano whimper, he clutched her tighter, while Thomas occasionally pat her back uncomfortably.

It had become even worse when Alex was the only one who noticed an ominous black figure towering over, white eyes flickering right outside the cave. The lighting of the fire was ever so odd as to not light up the figure's true form and keep it as a cryptic shadow.

There'd been three children taken that night, now, three children had to survive.

**That escalated quickly. **

**Well, I'm not too sure when I'll publish chapter 9. My uploading schedule for this story has been wonky, and I apologize for that. I don't have any set schedule, all I do know is, "Don't become one of those authors who leaves for five months with no explanation." **

**The way I work with stories is this: The more positive feedback I receive with a story, the more likely I am to update sooner, that way I am pleasing as many people as I can and knowing that doing what I love (narrating and storytelling) is also making other people happy. And again, if you want to talk to me outside Fanfiction, PM me and we can probably talk on Discord. For now, see you later, have a good day/night. **

**Why am I up at 11 P.M. working on this-**


	9. Chapter 9 - The Hope of Security

**Good morning, afternoon, or evening to everyone! I know everyone's been begging me for an update, so here it is. I'm sorry it's been a while, I've been really stressed out by school and issues with family and friends. I won't get too deep into that, though, I'm here to entertain you and make you happy, not drag you into a therapy session. **

**So some news: I finally made a cover for this book! I hope you like it, it's not my best art piece, but I worked very hard on it. I can't do digital art, so I had to draw it in my sketchbook instead, with a single mechanical pencil. But hey, I didn't have a lot to work with, so I'm happy with the final product! **

**This will be the second to last chapter of Camping Campaigns, but there WILL be an Epilogue published eventually, it won't count as an actual chapter; more like a follow-up of what happens, an aftermath. I really appreciate all the love and support this story has gotten, and it is currently my most reviewed story thus far. I never thought some story as simple as this would have pulled in so much attention, but regardless, I am so thankful. The very first chapter was written all the way back in May 2019, though I didn't get a Fanfiction account until late December of the same year. So you can tell I was not expecting this at all. **

**And to answer a guest reviewer's question (from Hinnypercabeth12); yes, I am trying to minorly imply Hamliza. I'm a fan of Hamliza too, despite not being a very avid shipper. Ships are all in good fun. Just don't ship siblings… or parent and child… that's weird, ya nasty. **

**Anyway, enough of the sentiments, we will now plunge into the most eerie chapter of the entire story. Well, maybe the Epilogue will be creepier… I plan for it to be creepy. Eh, I suppose the creepiness depends on the person. **

**Chapter Nine—The Hope of Security **

"Now where in the wide, wide _world _did the other scouts go?" Washington interrogated Alex, Thomas and Eliza as he stepped into the cave, the fire's light dimming with time.

The three children were silent for a brief moment, unsure of how to respond to their stern leader. "W-we saw something drag them away . . ." Eliza explained, her voice deep and thick with the swelling in her throat.

"_And what was it?_"

"Don't be so harsh on her, sir," Alex said softly, standing with his knees wobbling. "Her other sister was just dragged into darkness, she probably won't be seen ever again if we don't find the others soon enough."

Washington sighed and crouched down beside the fire, glowing ashes nearly flying into his eyes as he rubbed his forehead. "I'm sorry. I don't know what we are going to do about this . . . I was supposed to plan for this sort of thing to happen, but I wasn't prepared for a supposedly paranormal situation such as this to occur. When I first heard the urban legends of this forest having some supernatural influence, I shrugged them off and paid them no mind. Now is not the time to be skeptical. Even after all this searching we have done . . . I fear we may never find the other scouts again."

Eliza sobbed into her hands.

"But . . . I will do my best to protect the remainder of you until the truck returns to pick us up tomorrow."

"Hold on one second, Mr. Washington," Thomas blurted with a raised eyebrow. "Why didn't you bring some sort of phone or walkie-talkie to contact someone if anything went wrong?"

"I am not one to rely on modern technology so much, no matter how convenient it may be," said Washington, taking a stick and prodding the fire's kindling. "I was far too confident that nothing would go wrong, as I consider myself a relatively sensible and responsible man. Sensible . . . in a sense that I am not particularly fond of turning to the idea of _demons _and _ghosts _as explanations for anything out of place that happens. And I thought I was responsible enough to keep track of all of you, keep you safe . . . I was proven wrong—"

Washington suddenly felt pressure on his upper body. He noticed Eliza squeezing him tight, like a snake constricting its prey. "_Please don't let us get taken, I don't wanna be taken, I wanna go home with my sisters!" _she sobbed, burying her face into the man's shoulder. It was soaked at once in salty tears, like slowly expanding puddles in the rain.

Sighing, Washington patted her back. "There, there, Eliza. We'll do our best to find your sisters and your friends."

"Mr. Washington," Thomas interrupted hesitantly, raising his hand. "C-can I have a hug . . .?"

Alexander jerked his head towards him in a fit of shock.

"Of course, Thomas. I'm ready to offer comfort when needed."

With a small grin, Thomas leapt up and joined Eliza, leaning on the man's other shoulder. From the cave wall, behind the fire where his shadow could loom over him like an archaic museum painting, Alex rolled his eyes and chuckled slightly, amused by his (fr)enemy's display of vulnerability. Well, despite his seemingly condescending gesture, he couldn't help feeling a mild tint of envy. Washington, for a long time, had been almost like a father figure to him, something he had lost two years prior. He exhaled with melancholy, glimpsing his knees before looking back up at the only other humans he'd probably ever see.

Unexpectedly, Alex ended up joining the group hug. He, like all children, needed comfort sometimes. He briefly glanced at Eliza, who convulsed shakily with her hot tears.

"Hey, hey," Alex whispered, evading the group hug and putting his hand on Eliza's dainty shoulder. "We'll be okay, it'll be okay . . ."

That wasn't entirely reassuring to poor Eliza. The way Alexander had spoken sounded like he was uncertain of himself, uncertain that they would all turn out fine. So many had gone in just a few days, Eliza could see herself and the three remaining men being shackled by sable iron and yanked into eternal darkness. Try as she might, she could not escape that vision, that one thought that prevented her from feeling any ounce of comfort.

It wasn't long before the three children were asleep against Washington, like ducklings against their mother . . . or rather, father-like leader, in this case. Late at night, the sight of warmly glowing ashes dispersing across the air and a scarlet flower dancing ballet reflected in his deep eyes, but he never took his focus off protecting his remaining scouts. He dwelled on what had just happened. What had happened over the past three days. He could not fend off the feeling that the scouts' disappearances were all his fault, and he was the one to blame. At first, he presumed children were being children and getting lost in the woods. But as everything had progressed, his frustrations and apprehensions heightened, emboldened; he had been forced to lock them away and board up the doors, despite their longing to escape and reveal themselves.

Sighing, Washington relaxed his shoulders. Doing so was difficult, as there was absolutely no reason whatsoever to be at ease. He was rather drowsy himself, and he began to lower his head, succumbing to exhaustion—

"_Farewell, Washington." _

His eyes snapped open, and before he could react, he felt an acute, frictional agony searing his legs and chest, then blackness.

. . . . .

Alexander and Thomas were rudely awoken by some banshee's deafening reverberations, and they shot up, scared out of their minds.

"Eliza, what the _HECK _are you—"

"Mr. Washington! He's gone!" Eliza bit her nails and began to blubber incomprehensibly; both boys wanted to slap her like they'd seen characters in movies do to others when they were out of their minds or acting in a way such as this, but neither of them could bring themselves to hurt the girl. Despite believing in gender equality, both of them had heard the phrase "You shouldn't hit a girl." Perhaps the saying referred to an innocent girl rather than a hussy.

"Eliza, please . . ." Alexander murmured, fighting back tears. "Don't—don't—"

Even he couldn't resist it this time. A single tear dropped from his eye as he propped his chin up on Eliza's shoulder. While they sniffled in each other's embrace, Thomas stood upright, suspiciously staring at the firepit, which lacked any flames. A fire was not necessary anyway, as the sun's light spilled into the cave and lit up nearly every corner of it.

"How could Mr. Washington have gone missing with us knowing or feeling him moving?" Thomas asked, furrowing his thick eyebrows and placing a finger on his chin. "Wouldn't we hear him screaming?"

"I swear on my life, that man hardly feels true fear. Whatever terrifies him is unimaginable," Alexander spoke, wiping mucus from his face with the back of his wrist. "I just can't believe he . . ."

"Disappeared. I know." Thomas sighed, dropping his shoulders and lowering his eyelids with a mixture of disappointment and precariousness.

"What are we gonna do?" Eliza asked tearfully, hugging herself. "There are no adults around, only us and . . . no way to call for help . . ."

Alex tugged on the sides of his chestnut hair, raised his chin, and unleashed a wail of sheer frustration. "WHY? _Why were we forced to leave phones at home? _Where are our means of getting help? What are we to do if our only leader is lost . . ."

Each of them traded horrified, pained glances. There was at least _some _hope of safety and security when Washington was around, as he was the most intelligent among all of them, someone they looked up to, a fearless, determined man willing to guide them through anything. Now, their already small hopes practically vanished.

For the rest of the day, the three remaining scouts sat against the cave wall, huddling close. It might have felt like an invasion of personal space, but it was better than risking one of them being dragged away by _whatever_ this odd paranormal force was again. They were contemplating what to do, alert in case one of them was abducted. Hardly any talking was done. None of them were prepared to discuss recent events, so they simply braced themselves for anything.

And something did happen, with it being uncertain whether it was anticipated or not, because it is my job to progress the story's plot with eerie occurrences.

"_W-WAIT! NO!" _

Just as Thomas was seized around the ankle by the thorny silhouette of a bony hand, he clung to a piece of rock protruding from the cave floor. He held onto it with more effort then he normally put into P.E, as Eliza dashed over to help him frantically. She snatched up his hand and tried with all her might to pull him back towards her, but her puny arms were beginning to capitulate.

"_Alex! Help! Please!" _

Eliza's head swiftly turned back to Alex, who was dazed by the commotion in front of him for a moment. Thomas was his enemy, but who cared at that time! He darted over and squeezed Thomas's other hand. Even with two people helping him from the current safest part of the forest, they were no match for supernatural strength, as the silhouette, somehow still concealed beneath the sun of the golden hour. This strange observation put Alex and Eliza off guard, and with one final tug, the silhouette managed to win the match of tug-of-war and sweep Thomas into darkness—no, not by dragging him into the depths of night—by engulfing him in some cloak-like sheet seemingly fixed to it like wings, and as soon as it burst into a cloud of inky evaporating vapor, Thomas was taken along with it.

Two children gripped their knees, eyes bulging horridly like inflating bubbles with shock.

. . . . .

"We're done for, WE ARE DONE FOR!" Eliza panicked, hugging her calves and rocking back and forth while sobbing. "It's taking everyone so fast!"

"Eliza, we can't be expressing fear at a time like this! I think this creature feeds off of fear, and that's why it can take everyone so quickly," said Alex, stressed. "Look, Lizzie . . ." He exhaled through his mouth, slowly seating himself beside her in the most gentle manner possible. "I'm just as scared as you are. But we can't show it. Please, stay strong. . . ."

He delicately took her head and pressed it against his chest, setting his hand on her scalp. "Stay calm, breathe in and out. I think I can figure this out . . . Look at this." Alex reached into his pocket and pulled out a shiny black stone, glinting in the faint light of sunset.

"W-what is that?" Eliza stuttered, elevating her head to glimpse the stone in all its sable glory.

"I'm not sure. I found it in the same place we tried to get Thomas back here . . . I believe it was left behind by whatever took him."

"You really think so?"

Alex nodded, not a trace of doubt in his countenance. "Remember when Aaron found one on our scavenger hunt? Well, if I'm right, then the 'thing' left that stone behind. I don't think they're dangerous, though. Nothing bad has come from them, they're just rocks."

"I still don't know, Alex . . . everyone's gone and . . . there's no one to protect us . . ."

Just as Eliza shed a tear, she looked away and her eyes shut tightly, then she felt a hand on her shoulder. She looked up at Alex, her eyes edged with red bags.

"_I'll _protect you," Alex reassured, grinning a little to lighten the mood. And it worked; Eliza let a small smile slip. She cozied into his shoulder, nowhere near willing to let go.

"Alex?"

"Yeah?"

"I know this is a bad time to ask, but . . . if you had a kid," Eliza started, breathing out slightly, "what would their name be?"

Alex took a moment to consider her question, then, he finally answered, "Well, if the kid was a boy, Philip."

Eliza's face seemed to brighten upon him saying that. "That's my dad's name . . . I'd pick that name too, in his honor."

"Why did you choose to ask that question just now?"

"Oh, um, nothing." The girl reddened and tugged her hair over her face like stage curtains.

"Come on, there's gotta be a reason," Alex pressed, smirking and prodding her shoulder with his finger. "Tell me. Why are you hiding your face?"

"No reason at all—!"

"But you—"

_Silence. _

"Eliza . . . do you feel that?"

"Feel what?"

"It's so cold all of a sudden . . . like we're standing out in the middle of winter."

Frantic, Eliza looked around, and watched as the sky outside subsided to dusk, the darkness swelling over the woods. "I feel it too, b-b-but what's—"

She pointed just ahead, at the mouth of the cave, and Alex saw the annoying silhouette again, but this time, its outline was far clearer than ever. They could make out the contour of a tall, crowned man in a breezy, torn cloak, the ripped fabric prominent in the night. Eliza tried to suppress a scream and cling to Alex, but the boy just bared his teeth and stomped forward.

"Oh for the love of God, _WHO ARE YOU? SHOW YOURSELF YOU COWARD." _

The figure tilted its head to the right slowly, and then, much to the children's fright, two bright white lights lit up on its face, like fireflies under the influence of a moonless night.

"_I was beginning to wonder when one of you would ask that question." _

**Help me I stayed up till 1 A.M. writing this. That's why it kind of sucks lollipops. **

**But OOOHHHH, is it getting juicy. We're finally getting to see the thing that's been abducting all the scouts (and Washington). **

**Also raise your hand if you think the way I drew Thomas on the cover looks like Anne from Amphibia. **

**Okay I'm going to bed, good night. I'm too tired to write an essay for the final author's note. **


End file.
